Mohun Bagan today defeated Salgaocar 4-2 in a Hero I-League match played at the Barasat Stadium, with Katsumi Yusa, Cornell Glen, Luciano Sobrosa and Balwant Singh scoring the goals for the green and maroon brigade.
After Mariners took a 4 goal lead within 50 minutes, the visitors scored a couple of late goals. However, Mariners were guilty of missing at least 3 easy scoring opportunities. Luciano Sobrosa and Pronay Halder's inclusion definitely helped the cause of the team, as they brought a lot of stability to the defense and midfield respectively.
Luciano made a dream debut donning the green and maroon jersey and was rightly adjudged Man of the Match in today's game. Interestingly, all the 4 goals in today's game resulted out of set-piece movements. Dhanachandra's long throws and the inch-perfect corner kicks taken by Katsumi and Souvik caused problem time and again to Salgaocar defense.
The starting lineup of Mohun Bagan in today's game was - Debjit Majumdar, Pritam Kotal, Luciano Sobrosa, Kinshuk Debnath, Dhanachandra Singh, Azharuddin, Souvik Chakraborty, Pronay Halder, Katsumi Yusa, Balwant Singh, Cornell Glen.
Mariners were unlucky not to get a penalty in the very 1st minute of the game, when Katsumi was clearly pushed from behind by Keenan Almeida after the Japanese midfielder had barged into the Salgaocar penalty box down the left side.
Luciano missed a sitter when his header from close range off Dhanachandra's long throw went over the crossbar. Mariners took the lead in the 9th minute. After Karanjit failed to collect Dhanachandra's long throw properly, Katsumi Yusa did not make any mistake to head the loose ball inside the net.
Mariners had a couple of lucky escape. After Thangjam Singh's shot narrowly missed the target, Debjit made a stunning save in a one-on-one situation, denying Darryl Duffy from scoring. Debjit had made a similar save last season, when he collected the ball from Cornell Glen's feet in a similar manner.
Mohun Bagan got a penalty in the 27th minute when Cornell Glen was pushed from behind by Gurjinder Kumar. Cornell Glen did not make any mistake to convert the spot-kick, as his powerful shot went to the far corner of the net. Though Karanjit had dived in the right direction, the sheer power and precision behind the shot prevented him from making a save.
Cornell Glen came close to scoring again but his header went wide of the near post from Katsumi's corner kick. However, Luciano made the scoreline 3-0 in the 33rd minute, which was certainly the best goal of today's game. After Katsumi's swinging corner went across the face of the goal, from almost 0 degree angle, Luciano from nowhere pounced on the loose ball and headed it inside the net. Neither Karanjit nor the defenders expected Luciano to score from such a position.
Towards the end of the half, Balwant initiated a nice move before passing the ball to Glen whose left-footed grounder went straight to the keeper. Instead of taking the shot himself, Glen could have easily passed the ball to unmarked Katsumi or Balwant. A couple of minutes later, Balwant repeated the same mistake from Pritam's pass, as he took a crack at the goal from an acute angle which got blocked though Cornell Glen was standing unmarked.
Minutes after resumption of play in the 2nd half, Debjit made a stunning save, as he tipped off Darryl Duffy's shot over the crossbar. Balwant Singh increased the lead in the 48th minute, when his brilliantly-executed header from Katsumi's corner went to the far corner of the net.
Few minutes later, following Debjit's long goal-kick, Balwant pounced on to the back header of a Salgaocar defender but his flick over onrushing Karanjit's head went over the crossbar. After having the 4-goal cushion, Mohun Bagan players seemed to relax a bit but Kinshuk made a couple of brilliant interceptions to deny Duffy a clear look at the goal.
Sanjoy Sen made the first change replacing Balwant Singh with Jeje Lalpekhlua. From a clear offside position, Darryl Duffy pulled one back for Salgaocar in the 68th minute. At the other end, Katsumi made a stupendous run but Karanjit made a brilliant save with his left leg, preventing the Japanese midfielder's shot from going in.
Soon after, Dhanachandra's header from Souvik's corner went to Azhar, but the latter's diving header unluckily got blocked by a defender. Mohun Bagan made a surprising change, as Raju Gaikwad replaced Kinshuk Debnath who had an outstanding game.
From counter attack, Cornell Glen initiated a move, from whose pass Jeje Lalpekhlua delivered a cross meant for Katsumi which took a deflection and went to Cornell Glen, whose shot from edge of the box went ballooning over the crossbar, which was not expected from a quality striker like Glen.
Sanjoy Sen made the last change, bringing Prabir Das in place of Azharuddin. Cornell Glen was once again unlucky as he failed to just get a touch to Prabir Das' brilliant cross, which the striker from Trinidad and Tobago should have converted with ease.
In the fag end of the game, with Mohun Bagan defense caught napping, Gurjinder Kumar's side volley went through the legs of a host of Mohun Bagan players to the back of the net.
Mohun Bagan will be playing their next Hero I-League match against East Bengal on January 23, 2016, which will be played at the Salt Lake Stadium.
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