Mohun Bagan beat George Telegraph by a solitary goal to maintain their all-win record in the 2009-10 Calcutta League. However they had to overcome a spirited display from George in the second half to hang on
to the lead given by Chidi Edeh late in the opening half. With this win, Mohun Bagan, with 15 points in 5 matches, consolidated their position at the top of the table.
Mohun Bagan was on the offensive right from the start, forcing their first corner in the 2nd minute, but after a scramble, Zenith’s effort failed to trouble the George custodian. 2 minutes later, a Chidi header went wide. Then George counter-attacked, giving first indications that they would not let Bagan do all the playing on this
day, but failed to get past the Bagan defence.

In the 9th minute, another corner ended in Chidi taking a snap shot, just missing the target. George attacked almost immediately, but Mandi and Azim were strong in the heart of the Bagan defence. The game continued in this to-and-fro manner for a while. Within the next ten minutes, three Mohun Bagan attacks came to nothing, as first Souvik failed to connect from close, when he might have been tripped, warranting a penalty, perhaps. The referee thought otherwise. Soon afterwards a Suoeka effort hit the side netting and finally Ishfaq fumbled Chidi’s headed flick-on from a long Shilton kick. In between, George too attacked whenever possible, leading to an exciting, open game.

In the 24th minute, Tomba attempted a bicycle kick in the box from a Chidi cross, but just failed to connect. Then Chidi was fouled badly by the George left back, who was booked. Slowly Mohun Bagan were stamping their authority in the match, but the George defence toiled hard and held firm.

From the 35th minute till the end of the first half, Mohun Bagan played probably their best football of the match. It was all started by a superb solo run from Suoeka cutting in from the right and beating several players, but Ishfaq just failed to reach his pass. Another Suoeka run created another opening a minute later, but there was nobody at hand to score!

Then in the 37th minute came a moment of Chidi magic. Tomba picked up a loose ball and found the Nigerian in the edge of the George box. Chidi swivelled promptly, eluding his marker and unleashed a terrific right-footer low and hard – a diving George keeper got his left hand to the ball, but such was the power in the shot that it deflected into the net! (1-0).

In the 39th minute Ishfaq floated in a good ball in the box and this time Suoeka went for a flamboyant bicycle kick, but misconnected. 2 minutes later Chidi hit another right footed pile-driver, which was superbly parried by the George keeper. The ball bounced back, and Suoeka tried to head it in, but the ball just went over. Then in the 45th minute another Bagan attack found Souvik in possession just outside the box. He looked up, saw the keeper out of his line and chipped delightfully over his head. Alas, the ball went fractionally over the bar. There was time for another Chidi shot, but that was blocked, and Bagan went into half-time one ahead.

The second half saw some determined football from George Telegraph, practically right till the end. They came hard at Bagan, looking for the equaliser. They did leave space behind for Bagan to counter-attack, and the home team duly obliged, creating a few half chances of their own. The first few minutes of the 2nd half saw a up-and-down contest, much to the delight of purists.

Here young Mandi stood like a rock in the Bagan defence. He was ably assisted by Azim, Zenith and Biswajit, and also by the teenager Souvik, who once again exhibited his wonderful work-rate and undoubted potential. Shilton was safe and confident in goal whenever called upon to come to the rescue. But it was Mandi who made most of the important tackles and interceptions to keep the George forwards at bay.

Bagan’s first meaningful attack of the half came in the 10th minute after resumption, when Mickey and Tomba combined well to find Chidi, but the hard-working George defenders thwarted Chidi’s effort. Then on the hour mark Ishfaq ran in brilliantly from the left to unleash a right-footer which went just wide of the far post. This was to be Ishfaq’s last action of the match, as he was replaced by Snehasish almost immediately.

Then in the 62nd minute Azim collided with George’s African striker and lay supine on the field for a long time, causing some anxiety to the Bagan faithfuls. However, he soon shrugged off his discomfort and resumed playing. Soon thereafter Tomba sent in a beautiful cross from the right, but somehow the ball was scrambled away.

George continued pressing, and 25 minutes into the 2nd half, they had the ball in the Bagan net. However, the goal was disallowed for infringement. Then Mickey Fernandes, who was having probably his best game for Mohun Bagan, was replaced by Lalramluaha. This led to more control of the midfield for George, and Mandi and company had to work really hard to keep them away. Then in the 77th minute, Lalram gave away a needless free-kick just outside the Bagan box. The strong Abiola sent in a hard kick over the wall, but Shilton collected confidently.

Then Bagan shrugged off the George pressure and went into attack. Suoeka earned a free-kick just outside the George box, but Tomba’s shot went wide. Then a delightful Suoeka-Chidi combination almost got Bagan their 2nd goal. Suoeka got the ball near the halfway line on the left and found Chidi with a wonderful lobbed cross. Chidi controlled the ball with skill and elan, and beat his marker to sent in a swerving cross into the box. Suoela rushed in with great speed but was just foiled by the keeper, who fisted the ball away. In the 85th minute, Snehasish finally went into one of his now customary left flank runs, causing panic in the George defence, but his pass fell between Suoeka and Chidi, allowing George to clear.

George counter-attacked with determination, but Mandi again came in with a timely tackle. The resultant clearance found Suoeka, but his effort went just wide. Then Lalram ran in beautifully from the right and entered right into the box. Lalram should have passed to an unmarked Biswajit, who had quietly stepped into a wonderful position; instead he went for glory himself, but his feeble shot from an acute angle was easily saved by the keeper.

There were 5 minutes of added time, mostly owing to Azim’s earlier injury, and Shubho Kumar made a brief appearance in place of Lalram. There was another anxious moment in the Bagan box, when Abeola found himself in an excellent position but the George striker hit the ball out.

The match ended soon thereafter, and Sagram Mandi was named Man-of-the- Match, which underlined his superb display in the game, but also recognized George Telegraph’s attacking performance, for which they have to be commended. Still, one has to congratulate Mandi and his youthful fellow defenders to have passed their first real test in the current campaign with considerable credit. Congratulations to Mridul Banerjee, too, for winnig his first ever game in charge of Mohun Bagan.

And one last word on Chidi, he now has 21 goals in 20 games for Mohun Bagan. The Goal Machine marches on!

Team :Shilton Paul; Zenith Mashangwa, Sagram Mandi, Sheikh Azim, Biswajit Saha; Tomba Singh, Souvik Chakraborty, Mickey Fernandes (Lalramluaha-73, Subho Kumar-93), Ishfaq Ahmed (Snehasish Chakraborty-60); Ryuji Suoeka, Chidi Edeh.

Goal – Chidi-1.

Man-of-the-Match – Sagram Mandi

Mohun Bagan maintained their all-win record in the current Kolkata Premier League with a comprehensive 3-0 win over Peerless SC today at home. With this they move on to the top of the league table, two points clear of Chirag United.

Mohun Bagan started the match slowly, and it took almost ten minutes to make the first clear attempt at the Peerless goal, when a Suoeka try went wide. Five minutes later Tomba cut in from the right but his effort was collected comfortably by the keeper. Then in the 18th minute came the first real attempt – a superb Suoeka free-kick was brilliantly saved by the Peerless keeper, low down to his right. Soon another save followed, this time from a Souvik long-ranger. In the 25th minute Ishfaq moved down the left flank and sent in a splendid cross, which Suoeka just failed to reach. Barely a minute later Chiddi had a good chance, but failed to get past the keeper. Then on the half-hour mark, Suoeka crossed brilliantly from the right, Chiddi rose gracefully to head it, the ball beat the keeper at last, but hit the bar and bounced back! A minute later Suoeka sprinted forward to reach a Chiddi through, but could not connect properly with his left foot. The pressure was mounting, but the breakthrough was just not coming!

 Then, after a brief lull in the attack, a wonderful five-man move brought the Mohun Bagan gallery to life! Suoeka collected a loose ball in the middle of the park and found Souvik, whose one-touch pass found Ishfaq. Ishfaq took his time as he carried the ball upto the edge of the penalty area and released a weighted pass to his left which was brilliantly chased down near the Peerless goal line by the overlapping Biswajit Saha. He in turn crossed the ball back into the six yard box and Chiddi, who else, met it with a firm shot which went in off the Keeper’s left hand. The deadlock was broken, at last! (1-0). This was Chiddi’s 20th goal for his team, in his 19th game of the season. No wonder he is now known as the Mohun Bagan Goal Machine!

Bagan went into half-time with that one goal lead. At resumption, Lalramluaha was replaced by Mickey Fernandes. Initially the move seemed to backfire, as Mickey failed to perform the midfiled holding role that Lalram did fairly adequately in the first half. For a while, Peerless dominated proceedings, forcing a couple of corners, and a few more moves into the Mohun Bagan area. But the defence held firm, with Mandi and Azim leading the way.

About twenty minutes into the second half, Mohun Bagan found their rhythm again, with Mickey slowly coming out of his shell to help the tireless Souvik control the midfield. Tomba and Ishfaq continued their runs down the two flanks, and Suoeka was a constant source of irritation to the Peerless defence, who were already quite busy marking Chiddi. Mohun Bagan forced a few corners and free-kicks and there were some half chances created, but somehow Peerless survived.