Mohun Bagan won against Chirag Kerala by 3-1. Bagan was awarded with two penalties today and Odafa converted both of them. First one happened in the 37th minute and the second one in the 83rd minute. Barreto scored the third goal in the 87th minute. Two of Chirag players got marching order – first Jimshad handled the ball in the 82nd minute when an Odafa back volley was getting into the goal. In the 85th minute Faizal who was booked earlier fouled Odafa and got a marching order. However Anil Kumar scored the lone goal for Chirag .

Mohun Bagan gets past Poilan Arrows by 2 goals. The first goal was scored by Jose Barreto in the 65th minute when a corner kick taken by Hudson Lima found him near the near post. His header was right on target. In 76th minute Rahim Nabi watched Nabeen Kumar approaching towards him and he pushed the ball towards the far post – Jewel Raja followed the ball well and shot it into the goal to make it 2-0.

Odafa and Sunil keep Bagan in the title chase after they scored for Bagan in the game against Southern Samity today. It was a good game as both the teams played open football till the end and many opportunities were created. Both the goalies – Sangram and Abhijit had busy days under the wood works and did well in saving goals.

Bagan played in a formation of 4-5-1 in the first half of the game. It was a new defense and for the first time Pradeep, Masih, Anwar and Daljit played together as the defenders. Midfield was of Manish Bhargav (U-19), Jewel, Zeleny, Murali and Lima. Ashim was the lone forward in the frontline. Lima played well and operated from the left keeping Southern defenders busy.  Jewel operated from the middle while Pradeep was operating well from the right. Zeleny played well as a defensive mideo foiling many southern attacks.

But ball distribution by Zeleny, Murali, Anwar and Daljit were awful. There were series of misspasses – and at timesDaljit and Pradeep failed to come back after they overlapped. Sangram and Anwar did well in foiling Southern moves from counter attacks.

In the second half Odafa replaced Murali who was miserable today. But the situation did not improve. Soon sunil replaced Zeleny – and Bagan moved into 4-3-3 combination. In Zeleny’s absence there was a pressure on the defense. However, again Anwar and Sangram did well to stop Southern attacks. In the 76th minute Barreto replaced Jewel and Bagan had 4-2-4 formation. Southern failed to resist the pressure and in the 79th minute Celestine fall down in an Odafa move and stopped the ball with his hand. Bagan was awareded with a penalty. Odafa scored the first goal by placing the ball to the right of Abhijit.

But Southern faught well and tried to equalise. In the 90th minute Odafa got an opportunity to increase the margin but Abhijit saved his shot – the ball went to unguarded Sunil who didn’t make any mistake to convert that to a goal.

Bagan earned 3 vital points and are still in the title chase.

It is a bit early to single out Dempo and East Bengal as the only title contenders for I League this season, but it appears highly likely that Mohun Bagan will not be among the chasing pack while Pune FC and Prayag chasing for the top spot. Crippled by injuries to some regular starters like Nabi, Jewel and Masih, and even more so by the injury and unavailability of Sunil, Mohun Bagan were so off the pace for most of the match against Prayag that the fans will want to forget as soon as possible.

With the team’s vertebrae boiling down to inconsistent and injury-prone Jose Barreto, Bagan TD Subrata Bhattacharya faces a mammoth task of rebuilding his side. Add to it – it seems the changes that were done in the Prayag match was of the thought process of the Finance Secretary than of the TD and the Coach. Wrong inclusion of Jose Barreto in a game in the last season led to a humiliating defeat of Bagan against the arch-rivals. If the official influenced the changes done in the field in the last game – it seemed he had not learnt his lessons yet. Add to it – he has taken active part in recruiting or retaining a team that has been suffering in midfield and in defense in last  27 games the team has played. The TD and  the coach never got a full team now that half of the season is over!

Several pundits have suggested that the ten-year drought of iLeauge could have ended this season, but perhaps Bagan will fail to be there in the top three positions of the iLeague at the end of the season – and is heading towards another trophyless season thanks to the team selection. It is high time that officials understand the same and stop interfering into the changes from the side bench.

We must check who all are becoming match winners of the clubs at iLeague – Chidi, Sueoka, Ishfaq, Gaurmangi, Deepak, Lalkamal, Sankar, Mehtab, Ravanan, James … finding something common in these players ?

In addition – Jose Barreto must be used as a reserve player and not into playing XI from the beginning of the game. A more fit set should be fielded from the beginning of the game.

However, the future of Bagan is completely in the officials’ hands – they need to prove that the future of the club is in safe hands – rather than using Rapid Action forces to dismantle the weary supporters.

Picture Courtesy: Sangbad Pratidin

Mohun Bagan’s hopes for the iLeague title suffered a blow Sunday with a 2-1 road loss to Prayag United. Vincent and Deepak scored for Prayag while Anwar scored the lone goal for Bagan. Prayag outplayed Bagan thanks to ex-mariners – Deepak, James and Sankar Oraon. Bagan’s second consecutive loss from three matches in the second leg makes Bagan behind Prayag now – and is now with 27 points from 16 matches and has moved to the fifth position of the leagu table.

Prayag has dashed Jose Barreto’s hopes of a dream return and winning the iLeague titl before he hangs up his boots. Vincent had given Prayag a lead in the 16th minute when he headed the ball into the goal from a James Singh corner. Sangram had taken away his eyes from the ball during this goal.

In the 19th minute Anwar scored a goal from 9 yards to find the equaliser.

Soon Prayag started operating from down the middle – and Bagan players, in absence of Nabi Jewel and Masih had no ideas how to stop them. There was a surprised change in Bagan’s team in the 40th minute when Gouranga Dutta replaced manish Bhargav.

However the first half ended in 1-1.

In the second half Deepak moved to the right to stop Lima’s movements while Arnab and Razzac went for a double coverage for Odafa. It seemed Prayag coach did not bother covering Jose Barreto who is slow and seem to have lost his touch this season!

Deepak scored a brilliant goal in the s64th minute. His 30 yards shot had beaten Sangram, hit the far post and went in.

The other changes that were done for Bagan were equally surprising – Pradeep for Ashim and Snehasish for Lima. None of them clicked and Prayag ruled the rest of the match to ensure they secure 3 vital points.

Refereeing was also not upto the mark. Once Odafa was in a scoring position and the referee had halted the game for reasons no body understood. Once Yakubu fall down without any reason and Pratap Singh gave a foul in favour of Prayag.

This is the second consecutive game refereeing went wrong against Bagan and in this game also Bagan was deprived of a penalty.

But perhaps it is time the TD must think of using Barreto as a replacement.

Sporting clube de Goa outsmarted Mohun Bagan in today’s iLeague match. Sporting’s Keita and Kalu scored two goals while Rakesh Masih scored the lone goal for Bagan.

Sporting did well in  the following activities –

a) Playing physical games to ensure Odafa and Barreto not getting the upper hand in attackin third

b) used two wings to operate well

With Nabi out due to injury SCG got an advantage.  Moreover Odafa and Barreto were covered well. As a result SCG got control of the game through out the game. Sangram did well to save three goals in the first half.

SCG also got benefits from poor refereeing. Referee Sri Krishna failed to save Bagan’s players getting hit (surprisingly in the first leg also similar incident happened and Bagan players did not get enough protection). there were two occasions when Bagan was deprived of a penalty – once when Odafa was pulled down and the other time it was Snehasish.

Assistant Refereeing was equally poor – once the SCG goalie caught the ball outside the penalty box and this was over looked.

However, the day was of SCG – and they beat bagan is all aspects.

Mohun Bagan : Sangram, Subhasish, Kingshuk, Anwar, Nabi (Dhanarajan 28′), Manish, Masih, Zeleny (Lima 78′), Snehasish, Barreto, Odafa (Pradeep 82′).

 

 

 

Mohun Bagan win the first game of the second leg against Churchill Brothers by 3-2. Odafa scored all the three goals for Bagan while Barreto alone wasted three opportunities to score. Once Jewel’s shot and once Odafa’s shot hit the cross bar. For Bagan Sangram saved a goal at the dying moments.

Bagan had opted a 4-5-1 strategy against Churchill Brothers but defensive lapse led to conceding a goal in the 4th minute of the game. Bagan came back brilliantly and controlled the midfield. Jewel shot his the cross bar and went out in the 6th minute.

Churchill also went for counter attacks but Bagan defense did well to foil the moves. In the 18th minute Nabi moved from right and his cross found Odafa who chest trapped the ball and placed it to the left of Arindam.

In the 28th minute Odafa bull dozed into CB defense but was unlucky as his shot hit the cross bar and went out.

In the 35th minute Subhasish was booked for unknown reasons. A television replay showed Zeleny fouled a CB player but Subhasish got th booking.

In the second half Barreto came in place of Jewel and Bagan moved to 4-4-2. This worked for Bagan as well as Odafa and Barreto started testing CB defense and they collapsed from time to time.

However Kingshuk got a booked for an unnecessary foul in the 48th minute.

Barreto got two consecutive chances to score but failed. Had it been Jose Barreto 3 years back- both could have been sure goals!

In the 60th minute Manish Bhargav replaced Sur and started operating well from the right flank.

In the 73rd minute Odafa got a pass from Masih and placed the ball well to make it 2-1.

In the 76th minute Barreto was fouled in CB penalty box and Bagan was awarded with a penalty. Odafa took the shot and this time he placed it on the right of Arindam to make it 3-1.

In the 81st minute Henry reduced the margin from a defensive lapse of Bagan.

in the 86th minute injured Rakesh was replaced by Souvik.

In the 94th minute Sangram saves a power shot of Balan.

Barreto and Odafa did well to guide Bagan into the win within the next one minute .

Mohun Bagan: Sangram, Surkumar (Manish Bhargav), Kingshuk, Anwar, Nabi, Jewel (Barreto), Zeleni, Masih (Souvik), Subhasis, Snehasis, Odafa 

Before we actually look ahead, let’s go back 3 months from now. In the beginning of October last year, the team was in a turmoil. The very much hyped coach Mr. Steve Darby had submitted his resignation and the team was without the headmaster. I League was due to start and the whole club was uncertain about our future in the 2011-12 I league. The officials appointment the supporters’ favourite, our very own, Bablu da as Technical Director along with Prashanta Banerjee as the coach. Along with euphoria, there was also a bit of scepticism of the new pair of coaches in the club. However, it is needless to say that after almost four since the two have paired, they have combined well and have been complementary to each other.

The I League started well for us with 5 victories in the first 6 matches, significant among those were the victories against Mumbai FC, Churchill Brothers and East Bengal FC. The black mark during that period was the away defeat against Dempo (However the team played without any foreigners). With 15 points in 6 matches, suddenly the supporters started smelling the I league after 10 years. Then came a slide in our performance.  We could secure only 9 points from the remaining 7 matches in the I League. We lost to Prayag United and Pune FC during this period. We lost valuable 2 points in each of the Lajong, Sporting and Salgoacar matches. We were able to win only 2 matches, against HAL and Air India, during the last 7 matches of the I league. Only if could have managed 12-13 points in these 7 matches we would have sat top of the point table right now.

At the end of 1^st Leg of the I league we are in the 4^th position at 24 points, 3 points behind the leader.

Now, let’s really Look Ahead.

–          Can we be the India Champions this year ?

–          How many points are required to become the Champion ?

–          What is needed to get those points ?

These are the three basic questions we have at this moment. We would love to  leave the technical issues with the TD and Coach at this moment. We would only try to get some reasonable answers to the three questions.

–          To start with the easy one first ;  Yes, we can be the India Champions this year. We think almost all Mohun Bagan supporters across the globe believe so. Most importantly, not only the supporters, but this time the players along with TD & Coach also believes, that this time “We Can Do It”. With only 3 points behind the leader, we are very much in the race.

–          How many points are actually required to become the Champion ? This is the most tough one actually. It is easy to answer mathematically. Even if we win all matches, and the current League leader Dempo wins all (except against us), the two teams will be tied at same points and head-to-head situation. However, realistically, Dempo again may get 25-30 points in the Second leg along with Churchill, who has an extra match to play. So it seems, Churchill or Dempo should finish the league at around 52-57 points. Going by this calculation, we need minimum 55 points and 60 points would be safe enough to be champion.  Simple calculation says, to get 60 points, we need 36 points from 13 matches, which means 12 wins and to get 55 points we need 31 points from 2^nd leg which is 7 points more than what we got in 1^st leg. 

–          Now what is needed to get 31 points in this 2 leg. Answer is again very simple here. We need to win 10 matches out of 13 and draw one.  We have to win HAL, Air India, Poilan, Lajong, Prayag, East Bengal, Pune FC, Mumbai FC and Chirag Kerala matches . Besides we are also facing Dempo in Kolkata, which we should look to win.  We need to get at least 26 points from these ten matches, if not thirty. The remaining three matches are in Goa against Churchill, Sporting and Salgoacar. We have the potential to get 9 points from these three matches, but minimum requirement would be 5 points. We should win against Sporting in the away match and expect a couple of more from the other two matches. We have very fond memory of winning against Churchill in a away match under Bablu da as coach and Barreto as a player. We hope history will be repeated this year again. So 26 points in Non Goa matches and 5 points in Goa match will give us 31 points, which we believe is a reasonable and gettable target at this point of time. For this we need a fit team and hopes the key members like Kingshuk, Anwar, Nabi, Barreto, Odafa, Lima , Surkumar and Sunil stay fit and play most of the matches in the rest of the I league. Results in a football match cannot be predicted but what we can expect that all players play more than their 100% in these 13 matches and show the same urgency as they had shown in the 7^th January Derby. If this happens, we are sure we will have a lot to cheer about at the end of the tournament.

Hence, the first two matches of the 2^nd Leg in Goa against Churchill and Sporting on the 15^th and 19^th will set the tempo for the rest of the I league. We will surely miss Sunil, but hopes Barreto is fully fit and will get 180 minutes service from him. If we can return with 4 points from Goa, then we are in the race for sure.

To sign off, assuming if this year turns out to be Barreto’s last,  it will a wonderful moment for all Mohun Baganis if Barreto, as a captain, picks up the I league trophy. This will also be an apt  home coming for our great Bablu da . Actually, can’t wait for the moment to happen….. Barreto and Bablu lifting the I League with Odafa , Nabi and other dancing around and we jumping and crying in the stands.

Joy Mohun Bagan

[From the desk of Souvik Goswami, Kuwait]

Disclaimer: Mohunbaganclub.com has nothing to do with yesterday’s shameful behaviours by some of the spectators in a Local League match, but it definitely opens up a floodgate to think about the infrastructure – particularly when top three clubs got Rupees 1 Crore each from the Government of West Bengal

Two clubs share the same ground where incidents happen yesterday – but perhaps only one was aware of the ground condition. One must remember games were stopped, matches delayed or cancelled due to drainage problem of this football ground in recent years.

A close review would indicate that the ground condition (after the rain for couple of days) was not at par with the required standard for a Kolkata League match. Players were unable to sprint – perhaps they realised there is a high possibility of injuries particularly when its just at the middle of the football season.

Mohunbaganclub.com condemns the behavours of the spectators – at the same time understands their frustrations for at times even Bagan did not meet the expectations of the fans and followers. But a bigger question the fans must ask is who decided to select such type of ground – unfit for any level of football – for a Premiere League match. The fans must also inquest how much money was spent for renovations that led to such type of grround ? It is easy to target the coach and the players – but why the football stadiums of West Bengal are not at par with the standards of cricket stadiums? Who plays with the sentiments of the supporters and careers of the players and become rich overnight.

Think sir – as it is already too late and Bengal’s football must resurrect.

Mohun Bagan beat East Bengal by 2-0 in a Sahara CFL derby match. Odafa and Manish Bhargav (u-19) scored the goals for the Mariners. Before the start of the match the local outfit Kingfisher East Bengal was well ahead than the National Club of India as per experts’ opinions. But the end of the match scoreboard made the experts eat their words. On a serious note, Sangram, the veteran goalkeeper of Mohun Bagan did not face any difficult ball from the KEB attack; this simple fact revealed clearly how the two teams performed on the day.

In the local league Mohun Bagan are well behind their arch rivals as far as the league table is concerned. But Bablu’s boys never let this bog them down in the match. In fact, the Mariners could have won by 4 goals at least, if Jewel Raja had not missed a couple of easy chances created by Odafa and Lima. However, it was the victory of Team Mohun Bagan, a result of total team effort and coach’s strategy.

There were light showers and cloudy skies in Kolkata from morning today. But Mohun Bagan’s victory brought 1000 watts light into the face of the Mohun Bagan fans. In the last round of the I-League, Mohun Bagan were beaten by Pune FC while East Bengal won the match against Air India. So Bagan were under pressure, which they overcame successfully by beating their arch rivals.

In the match TD Subrata Bhattacharjee and Coach Prasanta Banerjee depended on the newcomer u-19 from MB Academy Manish Bhargav. He scored the goal against George in the previous Sahara CFL match, on debut. Today he scored another brilliant goal – a gem of a header. We’ll request the TD and coach as the fans of Mohun Bagan to try Manish Bhargav in I League matches too. Bagan started with Mohan Raj, Kingshuk Debnath, Anwar Ali and Rahim Nabi in defence with Daniel Zelini and Rakesh Masih as defensive screen. Jewel Raja, Hudson Lima and the young Manish were in midfield, while Odafa was the lone striker.

The first ten minutes of the match was a test of temperament of sorts for both the teams; after that Bagan held the game as per their TD’s tactics, while East Bengal were gradually losing the hold on the game. In the 17th minute Jewel Raja was booked by the Uzbek referee due to a foul on Okpara. After that in 21st minute Bagan’s left back Mohonraj was injured and Dhanrajan came in place of him. Just a minute later an attack was initiated by Rahim Nabi who passed the ball to Odafa Okolie just outside of penalty box, on the right. Odafa’s deft turn took him away from 4 East Bengal defenders and his brilliant grounder was too powerful for goalkeeper Sandip Nandy to handle – he could only watch helplessly as the ball went off his hands and roll into the net. (1-0)

In the 28th minute the under-19 chap Manish Bhargav was fouled dangerously by Penn. Bagan got the free-kick from the right side of penalty box. Lima took a low, hard free-kick into the box towards the near post which was guided in by Manish Bhargav with a superb glancing header. The ball went into the net like a bullet. It was a truly brilliant goal by the young gun of McDowell Mohun Bagan. (2-0).

For the rest of the half Mohun Bagan dominated a stunned East bengal side, initiating a few more attacks through adept passing and splendid teamwork, but could not increase the lead.

In the second half KEB coach Trevor Morgan made changes after about ten minutes of further mohun Bagan domination, bringing in all three substitutes in a desperate attempt to turn the tide. Bagan TD took off Lima and brought on Snehasis Chakraborty. East Bengal tried desperately to reduce the margin, but Bagan’s defensive shape was immaculate, and Sangram was virtually idle! In the 75th minute there was a quick counter-attack and Odafa passed the ball to an unmarked Jewel. Jewel had only the goalkeeper to beat but instead of placing the ball to one corner of the net, he tried to chip the ball over the head of the advancing keeper, only to chip it well over the bar!

In conclusion everybody must admit that Mohun Bagan were by far the superior team on the field today. The strategy and tactics of the coaching staff were quite brilliant, and the team executed those instructions perfectly. Each Mohun Bagan player played at the top of his game today to help Bagan to bring a memorable victory for them. MohunBaganClub.com is congratulating the entire Mohun Bagan team for this outstanding performance. We wish them all the best for the rest of the season, specially in the I League.

Mohun Bagan: Sangram (21); Nabi (19), Kingshuk (4), Anwar (5), Mohanraj (26) [Dhanrajan (6)], Manish Bhargav (34), Zeleni (2), Masih (20), Jewel (23) [Barreto (10)], Lima (27) [Snehasis (25)], Odafa (9). 

Score: Mohun Bagan – 2  (Odafa 22′; Manish 28′)

             East Bengal – 0

 Picture Courtesy: Sangbad Pratidin