Mohun Bagan were held to 1-1 draw by East Bengal to share a point each.

It was once again Bagan who had won seven matches against East Bengal in a row at the Salt Lake Stadium drew the first blood. Mohun Bagan took the required lead in the second minute of the game.
Bagan skipper Baichung Bhutia received a pass from Ishfaq Ahmed and the Indian skipper had no problem in getting it past Subrata Pal to give Mohun Bagan the lead. It was a match that Bagan needed to win at any cost as they were placed eleventh in the league standing.

But Yakubu in the 39th minute set a perfect ball for Nabi inside the box and the latter had no problems in getting it past the Bagan custodian Shilton to score the equalizer.

With action and emotions coming out of players at regular interval the second half saw East Bengal players losing their calm and paying the price. Surkumar Singh first tackled Masih and then manhandled his national teammate Baichung Bhutia to get a red card against his name and reduce his team to 10 men. The situation became worse when East Bengal custodian Subrata Pal was shown the yellow card for protesting against the decision.

But the mariners could not take any advantage of opposition’s plight. Isfaq Ahmed got the award of Man of the match for his excellence in the match.

 Bagan is now with only 3 points in their 5 matches. They will play their next match away against defending champion Dempo on 31^st October, Friday in Goa. 

Team: Shilton (Sangram), Habibur, Vasan, Odafe,  Deepak, Masih, Marcos, Ishfaq (James Sr.), Lalkamal (Tulunga), Barreto, Baichung

 

Bagan face East Bengal tomorrowKarims boys are confident of a good show and the coach seemed upbeat as he has sharpened his arsenal today. The team fielded at todays practice was: Sangram, Habibur, Vasan, Odafe, Dipak, Ishfaq, Masih, Marcos, Tulunga, Baichung and Barreto. Lalam is yet to find his place back among the reserves.

Prince Rufus, Operations Manager of Mohun Bagan club will be representing Mohun Bagan in AFC seminar to be held in Kuala Lumpur from October 28 to 29. The seminar will be held in an effort to bring in some professionalism into football. 10 I-league club managers has been invited to attend the seminar.

In an effort to bring in some professionalism into Indian football, AFC has invited the 10 I-league club managers at a seminar scheduled to be held at Kuala Lumpur from October 28 to 29. Tottenham Hotspur Executive Director, Paul Barbar will be present during the seminar. Discussion will be held on how to manage a pro club. AFC league Deputy Chairman, Tokuaki Suzuki will explain the objectives and activities of AFC professional league project and how a general manager should function. The AFC hopes to raise the level of general managers in Asia and then aims to increase the professionalism of the personnel who are managing the clubs in AFC Champions League scheduled for this year. Besides India, representatives from Australia, China, Iran, Japan, South Korea, Qatar, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Thailand, UAE, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam will be present in the seminar.

Prince Rufus, Operations Manager of Mohun Bagan club will be representing the Mariners.  His reactions were "I am very much greatful to club authorities for giving me this opportunity. I am feeling very much proud and this is my single greatest achievment of my career. I am feeling happy to attend the seminar representing the National club of India."