Bagan qualifies for the 30th Federation Cup final. This is the record 17th time Mohun Bagan has qualified for the finals. 12 times champions will meet Dempo SC in the final. Bagan won against City rivals, and Premier League ranking 3rd Kingfisher East Bengal in Penalty Shootouts. In the 61st minute Sanju Pradhan scored for KEB. Barreto scored the equaliser in 65th minute. In tie breakers Bagan won 5-3.

Mohun Bagan defeated East Bengal 5-3 in tie breakers in 2nd semi final. The scoreline was 1-1 after 120 minutes. Mohun Bagan is unbeaten in the last 9 matches played in Salt Lake. The scores of the last nine matches are 2-1, 4-3, 2-0, 1-0, 2-0, 2-1, 1-1, 1-1, 5-3 (1-1). Bagan’s unbeaten run over East Bengal for 691 days, marching towards 1000, a record which all the Mariners will be proud of. The match was a keenly contested one and the best match of this year’s Federation Cup which was full of drama. Mohun Bagan started with Ishfaq in left half and James Singh on the other flank. East Bengal played well in this half and kept Sangram busy throughout. Vashan had to be replaced by Lalkamal in 10th minute due to injury and Rakesh Masih went to stopper with Marcos falling back as defensive medio. This put some pressure in Bagan defence. East Bengal had appealed for penalty in 5th minute when Yakubu’s shot hit Vashan’s hand but it was completely unintentional and referee rightly gave the decision in favor of Mohun Bagan. Mariners were thrice unlucky in this half when Marcos’ curling free kick and Ishfaq’s head hit post from James corner. In 20th minute, Subrata Pal had fumbled with the ball but Ishfaq failed to push the ball inside goal. East Bengal also came close to scoring few times but Sangram was up to the mark and made two brilliant saves in the first half, once when he came out of charge and saved a Sunil shot and the second time he dived to his right and made a spectacular save. In 40th minute, Soumik missed from close range when he lobbed the ball over cross bar whereas in the very next minute, Ishfaq took a left footer from outside box which grazed the post and went out for a goal kick.

In 2nd half, Mohun Bagan came back strongly in the match with midfield marshalled by Marcos. However, East Bengal scored the first goal in 61st minute, when from a Alvito’s free kick, Masih headed the ball out but it went straight to Sanju who took a right footed shot that beat Sangram and went into goal. Mohun Bagan equalized within 4 minutes. Marcos took a free kick from center of the field that curled and went to Barreto who followed the ball nicely and headed the ball home, Subrata had absolutely no chance to save the ball. In the 70th minute, Ishfaq Ahmed was tackled from behind by Mehraj, a clear case of penalty but seems that the referee did not see the incident. From the very next attack, from James center, Baichung failed to make a connection with the ball missing a very easy chance. In 73rd minute, it was third time unlucky for Bagan when Ishfaq’s shot ricocheted off crossbar for the third time in this match after Baichung’s effort was saved by Subrata Pal. Minutes before final whistle, Marcos took a free kick from outside box which narrowly missed target. The match went to extra time with scoreline reading 1-1.

In 1st minute of extra time, Barreto headed James Singh cross over the crossbar. East Bengal got one golden chance when Sunil’s shot came off post. Baichung got injured and Kareem brought Lalampuia in his place. In 2nd half, Lalampuia’s cross from the left saw Tulunga, who came in for Ishfaq Ahmed minutes earlier, headed it back for Barreto whose shot was well blocked by Saumik Dey. Seeing Sangram out of goalline, Yakubu lobbed the ball which just went over crossbar. Just a minute before final whistle, James center from left saw Lalampuia miss an easy header which sailed over crossbar.

In tie breaker, for Mohun Bagan, Barreto, Marcos, Lalkamal, Lalampuia and James Singh scored while for East Bengal Praveen KUmar, Mehtab, and Jayanta scored while Sunil Chetry’s shot, which was East Bengal’s third shot, was saved by Sangram Mukherjee.

For Mohun Bagan, Sangram, Dipak, Marcos and Barreto had an outstanding game.

The final between Mohun Bagan and Dempo will be played on Sunday, December 21st.

TEAM: Sangram, Mohanraj, Dipak, Vashan (Lalkamal 10), Habibur, Ishfaq (Tulunga 109), Masih, Marcos, James Singh Sr., Baichung (Lalampuia 98), Barreto.

YELLOW CARDS: Barreto (Mohun Bagan). Musah, Jayanta, Nirmal, Sunil (East Bengal)

TIE BREAKER:

Barreto 1-0, right bottom corner, goalkeeper dived same direction but brilliantly executed shot

Parveen Kumar 1-1, left bottom corner, goalkeeper dived same direction but fails to save

Marcos 2-1, left corner, goalkeeper dived same direction but fails to save

Mehtab 2-2, left corner, goalkeeper dived opposite direction

Lalkamal 3-2, right corner, goalkeeper dived opposite side, best shot of the tie breaker

Sunil saved by Sangram diving to his left

Lalampuia 4-2 left, goalkeeper dives same direction but fails to get a touch

Jayanta 4-3, left, comfortable height for goalkeeper to save who touches the ball but ball goes in

James Singh 5-3, same as last shot, goalkeeper touches but ball goes in to put Bagan in finals

 

Mohun Bagan lost to Vasco 1-0 in a Group D match of Federation Cup held today in Barasat Krirangan. Mohun Bagan missed many chances to score and Sangram made a bad mistake to concede the only goal of the match. Mohun Bagan now has 3 points from 2 matches and will play against Air India on December 16th in their last match of the group.

Mohun Bagan lost 1-0 to Vasco Sports Club and face a daunting task in their last match against Air India to qualify for Semi Finals of Federation Cup. In their last match against Air India, not only will they have to defeat Air India but also will have to hope that Vasco does not beat Oil India by more goals. Mohun Bagan’s goal average now stands at 2-2 while Vasco’s at 1-1, so if Vasco wins the match by 2 goals, then Mariners will also have to win the match by 2 goals and then they will reach semi finals having scored more goals. All these equations would not have been required had Mohun Bagan did not waste at least 3 sitters to score, on the other hand Sangram made a horrendous mistake and conceded one silly goal. Sangram is responsible for both the goals that Mohun Bagan has conceded in this year’s Fed cup. In the earlier match today, Air India drew 1-1 with Oil India and so if Mohun Bagan had won this match, they would have almost reached semi finals.

Mohun Bagan played attacking football in first half but as time progressed, flare disappeared from their game and especially in 2nd half after Kareem moved to 4-3-3 Vasco got more space in midfield and attacked more. Mohun Bagan started the game in 4-4-2 formation with Baichung and Lalampuia in forward and Barreto not in first team because of injury problem but during the end of the session, Kareem put Ishfaq in forward and moved rightly to 4-3-3 but today unfortunately the three midfielders could not play to their potential in 2nd half, Masih in particular was completely off color today. Kareem brought in Barreto, Kartick and Tulunga in 2nd half. Barreto and Kartick tried a lot but the luck was not in favor of Mariners. In defence, other than Deepak all looked very shaky.

In 1st half, Baichung scored off his left foot, a brilliant shot indeed but he was just offside. Ishfaq in one instance ran nicely down left flank and then he cut inside and took a shot from edge of box but narrowly missed target. In 2nd half, just after Barreto replaced Lalampuia, he gave a delightful through pass to Marcos who had just goalkeeper to beat, but he shot straight into goalkeeper, easiest chance of the match missed. Kartick put a cross from right flank to Barreto who completely miscued the shot and missed another golden chance to score. Just few minutes before final whistle, Kartick gave a pass to Baichung who positioned himself nicely in the box but from the right side he took a wayward shot.

The moment that Habibur would not forget in long time was when due to his silly mistake, a goal of Baichung was disallowed. Mohun Bagan got a direct free kick from outside box. Marcos bended it like Beckham and it hit the post with goalkeeper having no chance to move. From return ball, Baichung and Vasco goalkeeper leaped together but Baichung won the ball and his head beat goalkeeper and was entering goal and Habibur was standing in goalline at that time. Instead of moving away from goalline, he pushed the ball inside goal and was rightly judged offside by linesman. If Habibur had not touched the ball, he would not have been ruled offside and Mohun Bagan would have been 1-0 up.

The goal which Bagan conceded in 80th minute, Angelo lobbed from right side and Sangram completely missed the flight and ball went into far corner. Sangram did not even try to get the ball, he thought the ball was going over post, it was a case of terrible judgment.

Mohun Bagan and Vasco now has 3 points from 2 matches while Air India has 4 points from 2 matches. Oil India has 1 point from 2 matches.

TEAM:  Sangram, Habibur, Dipak, Vashan, Mohanraj, James Singh Sr. (Kartick 58), Rakesh Masih, Marcos Perreira, Ishfaq Ahmed (Lalkamal 76), Baichung Bhutia, Lalampuia (Jose Barreto 58).

YELLOW CARD: James Singh Sr.

Mohun Bagan beat Oil India 2-1 in their first match of Federation Cup. Barreto scored both goals for Mohun Bagan. Mohun Bagan will next play against Vasco on 14th at 5:30 pm.

Mohun Bagan played brilliant football in 2nd half to beat Oil India 2-1 in a Group D match held in Barasat Krirangan today. Mohun Bagan started the match in 4-4-2 formation with Baichung Barreto upfront and Vashan and Dipak Mandal in stopper in absence of Odafe and Manju and Mohanraj played as left back. In the 1st minute itself, Mariners combined well. Marcos lobbed the ball towards Mohanraj who gave a pass to Barreto who in turn gave the ball to Lalkamal in left flank but unfortunately Lalkamal’s center was well intercepted by Oil India defence and Mariners got a corner. In 4th minute, Durga Boro, who was impressive throughout the match, ran past Habibur and took a shot which was saved by Sangram. Mohun Bagan went ahead in 9th minute. Marcos took a direct free kick which goalkeeper failed to collect and Baichung pounced on the ball and gave a back pass to Lalkamal who sent a high cross that Barreto leaped high and headed the ball into goal. In 13th minute, a Baichung-Mohanraj combination resulted in a pass to Barreto inside box but he fumbled a little with ball and missed a chance. Being a debutant team, Oil India surprised all by their good performance, especially in 1st half. After conceding an early goal, they came back strongly and caused panic time and again in Bagan defence. In 16th minute, Jyotish took a shot after going past Habibur but Dipak timely cleared the ball for safety. In 27th minute, a Habibur center almost resulted in an own goal off Biplab’s foot. In 32nd minute, Mohanraj received yellow card for a dangerous tackle. Oil India equalized in 37th minute when Durga Boro capitalized on a misunderstanding between Habibur and Sangram and lobbed the ball inside goal. In 43rd minute, from a Lalkamal pass, Barreto’s shot was saved by onrushing keeper. In first half, Oil India got 6 corners and Mariners got 2 corners.

Coach Kareem made double substitution after lemon break bringing on Ishfaq and Lalampuia in place of Lalkamal and Tulunga respectively. Tulunga should have been replaced much earlier. Mohun Bagan went from 4-4-2 to 4-3-3 with Lalampuia added as extra forward. This change of strategy worked wonders as Mariners played inspiring football in 2nd half. In 51st minute, from a Habibur long throw, Ishfaq took a shot and off deflection, Baichung got a loose ball in box but his shot was slightly out of target but Oil India defence failed to clear the ball properly and Marcos got the ball with only goalkeeper to beat but his shot went straight to goalkeeper. In 55th minute, Barreto scored the winning goal for Mohun Bagan. Baichung took a back volley from Marcos corner which hit hand of Jyotish in goalline and off rebound Barreto pushed the ball in goal but referee instead of playing advantage and allowing the goal gave penalty in favor of Mohun Bagan. However, Barreto, as cool as a cucumber, scored from the penalty. In 59th minute, from a Marcos corner, Baichung back headed the ball which Masih took a head but it went straight to goalkeeper. In 63rd minute, Mariners again combined well when Baichung passed the ball to Lalampuia in left flank, Lalam ran down the flank and from his center, Barreto chest passed the ball to Baichung but his shot was well intercepted by Oil India defence. In 71st minute, Baichung missed the easiest chance of the match when from a Ishfaq through pass he could not push the ball inside goal with only goalkeeper to beat. In 77th minute, Marcos lobbed the ball towards Lalam who again ran past Oil India defence and gave a nice pass to Barreto who positioned himself nicely and took a shot from outside box which narrowly missed target. In 81st minute, it was Lalam in action again when he gave a cross to Baichung but he fumbled with the ball and Oil India defence cleared the ball. Minutes before the end of match, Vashan got injured. It is not certain whether he will be able to play in the next match or not. Mohun Bagan thus won the match 2-1 and got 3 points. In another match of the group, Air India defeated Vasco 1-0.

It is now to be seen which strategy Kareem will prefer in the next match, 4-4-2 or 4-3-3. Kareem has to be given credit as it has been proved again that his match reading is good and he changes strategy nicely according to the requirement of the team. Mohun Bagan will next play against Vasco on 14th at 5.30 pm.

TEAM: Sangram, Habibur, Vashan, Dipak, Mohanraj, Lalkamal (Ishfaq 46), Masih, Marcos, Tulunga (Lalampuia 46), Baichung, Barreto

YELLOW CARD: Mohanraj