Bagan moves up in table.

Mohun Bagan wins by 2-1 against Kolkata Club East Bengal to secure three vital points. Bagan moves to the second  spot, behind Aizawl FC who lost to Bengaluru FC by 0-1 today.

 

Sony and Azhar scored the goals in the first half while Borges reduced the margin in the dying moments of the match. Balwant and Duffy missed at least three sitters each.

 

KEB reduced to 10 men after Plaza hit Anas. But Bagan played a defensive game in the second half to ensure three vital points are achieved. Sony was adjudged Man of the Match.

Bagan gets past Abahony

Mohun Bagan secured three points after they won against Abahony (BD) by 3-1.

 

Bagan conceded a goal early in the match when defense was caught slow in reacting to an Abahony move. The vall was crossed from right of Abahony , a player was allowed to hold the ball, and he placed it well through Sarthak.

 

In the dying moments of first half Balwant cross found Sony who passes it to Jeje and Jeje scored the equalizer.

In the second half Yusa cross found Balwant on the edge of the box , he got into the box and chipped the ball well over the goalie to make it 2-1.

 

In the dying moments of second half Sony placed the ball well tonthe left of the Abahony goalie to make it 3-1.

However Balwant missed three seaters and Prabir missed one as well. Otherwise Bagan could have increased the margin.

 

MB 3-0 BFC

There was a tension among Bagan supporters since Santosh was the referee of the game. However players did well to ensure Santosh could only cancel two goals , to end up winning the game 3-0. Yusa (2) and Duffy were the scorers.

 

Yusa first scored a goal, and Santosh got a chance to cancel the same. However in two minutes Yusa scored again , and did not allow Santosh to cancel it.

 

Duffy scored from a Sony free kick. Santosh could not cancel the same.

Another Sony solo found unmarked Yusa who did well to place the ball in far post to get his second. Later Duffy scored another goal but Sony was adjudged offside. All three goals and two rejected had Sony’s assistance.

Bagan was fouled off and on by BFC players, Santosh failed to stop them, and perhaps was not interested to stop them as well. Like Mehtab, Watson was found continuously fouling and getting away. These kind of refereeing is dangerous for the spirit of football. However Santosh is always like that in last few years that raised eyebrows towards his integrity as referee.

Bagan defense played well. It was good to see Sehnaz coming back to shape, and so was Raju. This is a good comeback for Raju.

Shameless refereeing continues

Mohun Bagan, like last six years, continues to be the victim of the refereeing (the other team that was victim of refereeing is Churchill Brothers)

 

Like last few years , this year too denial of clear penalties (against East Bengal), denial of clean goals (Mumbai FC and Bengaluru FC), international attempt to reduce Bagan players while opponents were let off with nasty fouls on Bagan players have been part of the Bagan matches. Sreekrishna, who denied Bagan a penalty against East Bengal was the one who cancelled a goal against Bengaluru FC citing “infringement” while it was clear Arindam play acted.

 

It seems there is a body which does not want Bagan to become champion. They kept Bagan coach away from the field last year , and ensured Bagan concede goal from penalty when an opponent player handles the ball, asks assistant coach for marching order in vital matches.

If cricket can have a clean up , why Supreme Court is not looking into football and have a clean up in Football as well?

Bagan moves to Group E

Mohun Bagan qualifies for Group E of AFC Cup after they defeated Valencia by 4-1 (Aggregate 5-2) today. Jeje (3) and Sony were the scorers.

Bagan took early lead when they got a penalty at the very first minute. Jeje converted it to a goal. Jeje scored his second in 43rd minute. However Bagan had series of misses in the first half.

Valencia came back to the game in 53rd minute when they were able to reduce the margin. Coach introduced Yusa and then Bagan rein in Valencia well and Jeje and Sony scored one each in the second half.

However Balwant alone missed three chances to score. Sony missed two chances , Jeje missed couple too.

 

Bagan will now play Bengaluru FC (14th March – Away & 17th May Home), Dacca Abahony (4th April Home and 31st May Away) and Maziya from Maldives (18th April Home and 3rd May Away)

 

 

Mohun Bagan 1-1 Club Valencia

Mohun Bagan failed to defend its early lead as Club Valencia equalized from a penalty in 81st minute.

Duffy gave Bagan early lead, and Balwant almost scored the second but Anas handled the in the penalty box and Valencia equalized.

The teams will meet again on 28th February at Rabindra Sarovar Stadium.

Shibaji Banerjee No More

With heavy heart, mohunbaganclub.com condoles the demise of stalwart Shibaji Banerjee, ex player, and Technical Committee member. Shibaji-da was present in the Rabindra Sarovar Stadium to watch Bagan play DSK Shivajians, and was seen accepting fans’ requests for group photos.

There is no need of introduction of Shibaji Banerjee, the goalkeeper was the icon and idol for boys of Calcutta of 70s and 80s, who would love to become a goalkeepers just like him.

The ex Bagan player was one of the key members of the technical.committee that helped Bagan to come back to the track of victories and performances in recent past.

He not only stopped Pele from scoring a goal, he won 34 trophies for Bagan, and dis not concede a single goal against East Bengal from 1977-1981. He played for 11 yeara for Bagan and was the undisputed number one goalie for the club.

Balwant Brilliance

Mohun Bagan got past DSK Shivajians today thanks to personal brilliance of Balwant Singh.

Bagan started with a careful note, with two defensive midfielders, but started losing the control of the game as DSK did well in intercepting the ball from time to time and their quick counter attack created panic for Bagan defense.

In one such attack DSK got the lead as Edu failed to clear the ball, and Pritam was clueless as DSK player Milan scored with a sprint past Bagan defense (0-1).

Bagan coach had to withdraw Sehnaz and replace him with Prabir, and this move helped Bagan get back into the game.

Yusa moved to the middle , and Pritam and Prabir started creating movements from right with Sony and Subhasis from left.
In one such movement a Pritam cross was half heartedly cleared by Subrata and Balwant header made it 1-1.

Soon a similar attack followed, and Balwant’s brilliance made it 2-1.

In the second half Balwant missed three chances to get his hat trick.

Later he was replaced with Jeje. Jeje was once pushed inside the box, and Bagan got penalty. Yusa converted the same by hitting at right of Subrata (3-1).

However, Bagan coach will have to see if Prabir can come into first XI and move Yusa to the middle. Prabir, Pritam, Pronay trio are doing well. So are Sony and Duffy with Subhasish’s support.

In fact Duffy was the man who was distributing the ball well, which helped Bagan keep control after conceding the goal.

However refereeing was extremely poor, Bagan was denied of three clear penalties. There were two occasions were Bagan players were hit off the ball directly by DSK players. But no card was shown. These types of refereeing seem to be from the same genre of Dinesh Nair’s and Santoshes which would benefit a specific team that for unknown reasons always get refereeing blessings.

Goalless Derby: A Good Game, and Better Refereeing

(Image Courtesy: Hindustan Times)

The East Bengal infested city of Siliguri saw a goalless end to the derby, with both teams actually playing seasoned and well thought out football and perhaps even better referring.

The build up to the derby was tense. East Bengal have always had the infamous knack of getting undue advantages from the referee & match officials in the past, sins unpunished, clock hands stretched and what not !

Hence, Bagan fans were prepared for the worst when to came to match refereeing, but were pleasantly surprised to see referee Srikrishna keep a good leash on the game. So kudos to the ref for that. Of course, Mehtab, Dika et al were up to their usual impish antics, but thats what they do best.

The match started off well, each team putting the other to a good test and battled for midfield supremacy. On one hand Sony Norde was kept on tight leash on the left flank, with a double marking at times, and got no space whatsoever for his down the flank runs. He of course showed his class off a few corners and passes, but today wasnt his day. On the other hand, the Bagan defensive trio of Anas, Edu & Subhashis did a great job of keeping Wedson & Plaza at bay. Tackles met tackles and tactics crossed paths.

Jeje had a sub par day at office, was perhaps struggling a bit with the uneven bounce of the Siliguri turf.The usually nimble footed Jeje seems to be losing his agility a little bit, which could be ominous signs for Indian football. Hope Jeje proves us wrong real soon !

Duffy was energetic and quite enterprising, tried a couple of solo runs but none of the moves were clinical. He dropped down to a more withdrawn role, ran up front when needed.

The first half was primarily dominated by Mohun Bagan (East Bengal did have 2 shots at goal, but were easily fended by Debjit). Bagan went really close to taking the lead on a couple occasions, especially off a corner, but EB custodian Rehnesh did an excellent job of keeping the scoreline intact. He was indeed the man of the match.

This league has seen EB start the 2nd half with a burst of energy, and Bagan did well to slow down the pace of the game at the start of the 2nd half. EB did have a few good moves, but none that really challenged the Bagan keeper Debjit, except for one occasion where Wedson had a clear shot at goal with only Debjit in front of him.

The Bagan front line lacked lustre and coach Sanjay Sen would have done well had he been a bit more courageous and brought in Balwant earlier in the game in place of Jeje. Balwant came in only in the 75th min,  and was starting to look dangerous before time ran out.

Sanjay did show a bold tactical move in bringing in Prabir Das on the right flank in place of an off color Sony and switching Katsumi to the right. This did bring in a burst of speed on both flanks.. but again, time was of essence.

Overall, it was a good game by both sides, and perhaps the score line was just reflection of the game today.

Bagan stay 2nd in the league table, with EB at top equal on points, but with better goal difference

 

Can the fans expect neutral refereeing?

Mohun Bagan has suffered a lot from refereeing , particularly some crucial matches in last few years. Incidentally not just Mohun Bagan, other iLeague clubs also were subject to refereeing errors, and it was allegedly found that only two clubs were benefited, one of them have withdrawn their team.

Dr Errol Sweeney, World Cup Referee Coach & Mentor, once said ” There are few people one can really trust in life. Among these would/should be the police, the clergy, your doctor, and one would hope, soccer referees. Sadly, while it is not very apparent, there are a few of our colleagues who are prepared to betray the trust put in them. ”

Unfortunately while likes of Zico, Robarto Carlos, the world cup winners , have criticized Indian refereeing, the referees were patted well by the football officials of the country instead of asking them to improve.

Serious questions have been raised for a particular referee and his abilities in the football ground. Questions are been raised on his biased approach towards various teams, and then when the said referee is selected for crucial iLeague matches , it is obvious that eyebrows will be raised.

FIFA or AFC should not shed their responsibilities as well. They should ensure proper anti-corruption guidelines are followed to ensure neutrality of refereeing in Indian football. Questions are been raised whether FIFA is having an eye towards the same or not.