Mohun Bagan drew with Mohammedan Sporting 1-1 in a Premier Division Match of CFL held in Salt Lake Stadium. Mohammedan went ahead via a debatable penalty in 44th minute and Mariners leveled in injury time of 2nd half via Habibur. This is Habibur’s 2nd goal in as many matches.Mohun Bagan now have 24 points from 11 matches and will play their next match against Port Trust.

Mohun Bagan started the match without Baichung, Lalampuia, Ishfaq and Branco in their lineup and injured Barreto in reserve bench. With Tulunga and Kartick in attacking front, Bagan pressed from start and Kartick with his down the line run in left flank often caused panic in Mohammedan defence. Within minutes, Lalramlua centered from right and Kartick stretched to meet the ball but just could not connect the ball. In Mohun Bagan midfield, Lalkamal was not in the first team and in his absence Junior James, Lalramlua and Rakesh Masih took a huge load and continued attacking. Though Junior James played much better football than previous matches, he missed an easy chance when from Kartick’s center he got an loose ball inside box but fumbled with the ball and missed an golden opportunity. Kartick also missed an easy chance when a back head from Sporting defender reached him but he could not capitalize on the opportunity. Against run of play from a counter attack Sporting got a penalty when Theo fell inside box while trapping the ball, Mohanraj was with him and there was no such push that penalty was to be given, linesman was close to the incident and he did not raise the flag whereas referee was in center circle and he blew his whistle from such distance. Theo convered the penalty in 44th minute.

In 2nd half, Barreto and Rino Anto replaced Tapan Maity and Mohanraj and Bagan attacked more for equalizer. In 2nd minute, from a Junior James free kick, Habibur headed the ball nicely but Mohammedan goalkeeper made a brilliant save. Mohammedan got one easy chance but Rino Anto came as a savior when his brilliant intervention saved the day for Bagan. However, in the last minute from a free kick by Lalkamal, Barreto headed beautifully on to the far post where Habibur stretched fully and guided the ball in with his right foot, a brilliant attempt indeed from Habibur.

 

 

 

TEAM: Sangram, Habibur, Deepak, Peter Odafe, Mohanraj (Rino Anto 46), Lalramlua, Junior James Singh (Lalkamal 66), Rakesh Masih, Tapan Maity (Barreto 46), Kartick Kisku, Tulunga.

Mohun Bagan team had a two and a half hour practice session today morning under coach Kareem. Meanwhile, Under 12 team is leaving for Haridwar for residential camp tomorrow under coach Amiya Ghosh, they will then participate in a tournament in Delhi, thanks to Mr. Sukanta Das for arranging the camp. The team will fly for Paris to participate in the Yakult Danone Cup on September 2. Meanwhile, there will be a Special General Meeting held in club premises tomorrow for passing of audited accounts of 2006-07 and appointing auditors for auditing accounts of 2007-08 and fixing their remuneration.

Today in practice, there was match practice and even coach, assistant coach and goalkeeper coach participated in the match. Every player seemed to enjoy the practice. When asst coach Satyajit scored a brilliant goal, Manju was seen shouting "sign him, sign him", such was the mood in the practice. Kareem was also strict when required like when Chirodeep conceded a bad goal, Kareem yelled at him "Remember you are the goalkeeper of Mohun Bagan, you were not standing in the right position." Shilton was injured during the practice when he tried to save a shot from Satyajit and fractured his small finger of his left hand. Deepak is almost fit now and coach told that he might play Deepak in next match depending on situation and requirement of team. Kareem is happy that Mohun Bagan’s match has been postponed by few days as few players have minor injuries and will get time to heal. Barreto was seen in gym and he did not participate in the match, he is completely fit. When asked if he wants more time for practice before I league starts (it is scheduled to start in mid September), coach told that if he does not get any time after Kolkata league, he will not be unhappy as he is taking Kolkata league to prepare his team for I-league and he will have no complaints if he does not get time for camp before I league. He told that match practice is very much required and he is getting that here in this tournament.

Mariners beat Peerless by 2-1 in their first match in the 2nd leg of the Sahara CFL-2008. In 22nd minute of the match Peerless had taken early lead by a goal of Emanuel. Mohunbagan equalized within 10 minutes via Lalam Puia. In 52nd minute Barreto scored his 4th goal of the season. Mohun Bagan are now leading table with 19 points from 8 matches. Jose Barreto became Simoco Mobile Man of the Match. This was Mohun Bagan’s first match in the return league. Mohun Bagan was in an attacking mood right from the start of the match.

Mohun Bagan defeated Peerless today 2-1 in a Premier Division League match held in Salt Lake Stadium.  Within minutes Barreto missed a sitter, with goalkeeper standing in first post, instead of placing the ball in the far post, he chose the wrong end and shoot the ball wide. Then Mohun Bagan was denied a goal off a corner which Rakesh Masih had headed beautifully and the ball had cleared the goalline (TV replay suggested this) when Peerless defender cleared the bal. With James Sr. and Lalramluah moving via the right flank and Lalkamal and Lalampuia operating via left, Mariners continued to press and in 14th minute, James Sr. gave a long ball to Lalampuia who trapped the ball nicely and took a powerful shot which was just saved by the Port custodian. Two minutes later, James Sr. played pass with Barreto and his center from the right side found Lalampuia but who, instead of passing to Barreto who had moved to an open position, wanted to take the shot himself but was intercepted by Peerless defence. Suddenly against the run of play on 22nd minute, Peerless took the lead when Emmanuel headed the ball in off a center from the right side. Odafe was unable to mark Emmanuel properly who took an easy head. Apart from initial few runs, Lalramluah was disappointing and was replaced by Kartick Kisku on 25th minute. Mariners equalized in 32nd minute, Odafe took a long throw which went straight to Lalampuia who just pushed the ball in, an opportunistic goal from the in-form striker. The last 10 minutes or so of the half was dominated by Peerless but the defenders managed to thwart danger.

 

 Mariners went ahead in 52nd minute when from a Mohanraj center from the left side, Barreto took a left footer from an acute angle which went into goal past full stretched goalkeeper. Coach then made two changes, bringing on Sanjay Boro and Rino Anto in place of injured Mohanraj and James Singh Sr.  Towards the end of the match, Bagan missed three easy chances to score, Barreto missed one while Lalampuia missing two easy chances with only goalkeeper to beat. In 87th minute, Barreto got a ball past defender and had to just beat goalkeeper but he tried to lob the ball above goalkeeper’s head but the ball ballooned away. In 89th minute, Lalampuia missed the easiest chance of the match when off a splendid Barreto center Lalampuia had to just nod the ball in but could not connect the ball properly and pushed the ball straight to goalkeeper. Though Barreto missed a couple of chances but he was in awsome form and layed brilliant football and he was rightly adjudged Man of the Match. Odafe was shown yellow card in 2nd half, this is his second booking and he will miss the match against Chirag on August 17 to be held at Mohun Bagan ground.

 

TEAM:  Sangram, Habibur, Vashan, Odafe, Mohanraj (Rino Anto 62), Rakesh Masih, Lalramluah (Kartick Kisku 25), Lalkamal, James Singh Sr. (Sanjay Boro 61), Barreto, Lalampuia.

 

Mariners defeat George in a thrilling encounter. In an exciting clash today here at the Mohun Bagan grounds, the Mariners defeated George Telegraph 3-2, thanks to a last minute Peter Odafe strike. Mohun Bagan Academy graduates – Safar Sardar and Suman Dey made quite an impact donning the George colors. Bagan struck first blood in with Lalampuia scoring his 4th goal of CFL 2008. Mama was next to complete his tally of 4 in the 37th minute. Bagan went to the lemon break with the score reading 2-0. However, George was awarded a penalty seconds into the 2nd half. They got their 2nd goal in the 78th minute. Bagan salvaged pride thanks to a lovely cross from Habibur which found Odafe who intelligently netted the ball in.

Mohun Bagan started the match in a positive note with formation of 4-3-3 with Lalampuia, Tulunga and Barreto in forward and they started playing quite attacking football and at 14 minutes, Lalampuia missed a sitter with open goal in front of him and in the next minute, Lalampuia took a well-struck right footer from outside the box but unfortunately the ball went straight to goalkeeper. Mohun Bagan put George defence in continued pressure from both flanks and at 21st minute Mariners got their first goal, James Singh Sr. gave an excellent threw pass to Tulunga who ran down the right flank and his cross from the right was chested down by Barreto and he nicely passed the ball to Lalampuia who had to just place the ball in goal and he did so to perfection. After the goal, Bagan continued its supremacy and in 38th minute James Singh Sr. put the ball in box from right flank and Tulunga cleverly lobbed the ball over a surging George goalkeeper, a superb finish indeed but after the goal George came back in the match and started playing inspiring football. Nabin Kumar after his good performance in Mohammedan match was totally out of shape in today’s match and he was replaced by Habibur, it should have been done much earlier, given Nabin’s lackluster form today. In 47th minute, George got a penalty when Vashan handled the ball inside box. The decision can be questioned as when ball hit Vashan’s hand, it was totally unintentional and the ball was not goal bound, we have seen many decisions like this in European football where referee dont give penalty unless it is absolutely intentional. Francis took the penalty and Sangram saved it but unfortunately Odafa and other defenders reacted very late and nobody could clear the ball which rebounded off Sangram, instead Ikepere, the George striker pounced on the ball and pushed it inside goal making it 2-1. After this goal, Mohun Bagan did all wrong and total midfield flopped and George was in total control of the match and the whole second half George midfield lead by Subho Kumar put continuous pressure on Bagan defence and got their equalizing goal in 80th minute, the best goal of the match indeed with Francis striking from outside the box. At this time, there was absolutely no resistance from Bagan midfield and George was easily putting pressure on Bagan defence with Lalkamal and James duo totally out of form. However, a lucky finish indeed from Bagan in 90th minute when Odafe scored the winner. Lalkamal got a free kick from the right and his not so well directed free kick was going out when Habibur somehow went and pounced on the ball and just managed to keep the ball in play and passed the ball via his left foot and it went straight to Odafe who just pushed the ball via his left foot and the ball went in threw the legs of George goalkeeper. It was a huge relief for the spectators, there was a huge turn out today before the crucial derby against East Bengal. Subho Kumar got Man of the Match and Bagan spectators were very much sporting and applauded Subho on his great display. It is the 3 points that matters and Mariners managed to got that somehow today but the performance of the midfielders will be a big headache for coach Kareem before the derby match.

Barreto was as usual in superb form today with good support from Lalampuia and Tulunga, though Lalam looked a little wayward in latter stage of the game. James Jr. and Lalkamal tried a lot but they were totally out of form, the way Lalkamal is performing this year till now is completely unexpected. Lalramluah replaced James Singh Sr. in 84th minute but he also could not do much. The main problem with Bagan midfield is that there is no player who could snatch the ball from opponents foot with proper tackling and blocking and put some resistance like the way Douglas did it last  year. This seems to be a big concern for Kareem this year.

TEAM: Sangram, Naveen (Habibur 46th), Odafe (Rakesh Masih 90), Vasan, Mohanraj, Tulunga, Lalkamal, James Singh Sr. (Lal Ramluaha 84), James Singh Jr., Barreto, Lalampuiya.

PICTURE COURTESY: SANGBAD PRATIDIN