Barasat: Mumbai FC is always known to be a tough opponent for Bengal teams. The Red and Gold was successful in getting the better of Mumbai FC three years back on 13th January, 2013 which was a 2-0 victory for them. Since then, it has been either a draw or a loss for East Bengal in the hands of Khalid Jamil coached side.
East Bengal are almost out of the contention of the I-league this season with a 2-2 draw against Mumbai FC at Barasat on Tuesday. The Red and Gold brigade had to to win all of their remaining matches of the I-league without any permutations and combinations after the derby but they had already lost two valuable points in this match. On the other hand, East Bengal too failed to utilise the opportunity provided by Mohun Bagan after they shared points with Lajong in the earlier match at Shillong.
Steven Dias (15’) put the visitors into the lead but East Bengal soon responded through Ranti Martins (25’). Bernard Mendy made it 2-1 before the hour mark before Ashutosh Mehta scored a vital equalizer in the 77th minute to split points.
Biswajit Bhattacharya opted to start with Do Dong-Hyun on the bench even after his derby heroics with Abinash Ruidas and Sanju Pradhan being his wingers. Bernard Mendy started in midfield besides Mehtab Hossain.
With Eric Brown suspended, Mumbai started with the duo of Sushil Singh and Ryuki Kozawa upfront. Pratik Chaudhari was drafted into the centre of defense alongside Minchol Son with Kunal Sawant replacing Pawan Kumar in goal.
The Red and Golds almost opened the scoring within the first five minutes of the match. A long clearance from defense found a surging Mendy down the left. The Frenchman looked up and found Sanju Pradhan’s late run at the far post. Sanju, instead of going for the shot himself chose to pass it towards Ranti who had positioned himself in front of the keeper.
Mumbai FC broke the jinx in the 15th minute with the help of a Steven Dias set piece which curled Luis Barreto and he failed to get the hand onto the ball. Before this goal, Dias made a set piece movement from almost the same position but failed to get the shot in.
Ranti Martins, the crisis man for the Red and Golds got the equaliser in the 25th minute. Clyde Fernandes was nowhere near as Pradhan reached the byline on the right before cutting it back to Ranti who was in the right place at the right time. The Nigerian did not need to take a touch as he smashed it first time into the top corner. The first half ended with a 1-1 score line.
In the second half, Mumbai made the flurry of attacks in East Bengal’s defense but the Red and Gold defense was careful enough to overcome those. In the 52nd minute, Sushil was again unmarked on the far post as a floating cross from the right by Ashutosh Mehta could only be headed narrowly wide with the goal at his mercy.
In the 59th minute,Mendy finally got his shooting boots on as he made the away side pay for all the missed chances. A flowing move which started from Saumik Dey in defense saw Do Dong-Hyun combining to find Ranti Martins in the box. Martins with his back to goal found Mendy coming in late. The Frenchman chested the ball down before smashing it on the half volley giving Sawant no chance to stop the screamer and celebrated the goal on the rhythm of “Champion” dance moves.
A much improved performance from Mumbai FC notwithstanding, the Red and Golds seemed to have eased off after taking the lead and this culminated in the entire defense falling asleep to gift the away side the equaliser in the 77th minute.
A Jayesh Rane freekick in the 77th minute from the left saw Mehta getting in behind the defense with only Barreto to beat. The Mumbai defender made no mistake as he perfectly placed his header to Barreto’s right tying the match at 2-2. The scoreline remained the same till the final whistle was blown.
Biswajit Bhattacharya found annoyed with the referring of the match. He quoted as saying, ” The second goal of Mumbai FC was a clear offside. I don’t know why the referee did not give it. The referee is the best person to judge on the field. But I am not losing hope on championship. its difficult but not impossible.”
Ranti Martins, the goal machine of East Bengal blamed his players for the equaliser of Mumbai FC. He said,” After the second goal from Mendy, the players lost concentration and tried to mark the players without looking at the ball. I am very disappointed with the result.”
East Bengal remained third on the table with 24 points from 13 matches and they next play Bengaluru FC at the fortress of Bengaluru on Sunday.