Internet Desk: Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan suffered their second biggest margin of defeat in the history of AFC Cup on Wednesday. The Mariners were humbled 2-5 against Maziya Sports & Recreation Club of Maldives at the National Stadium in Male. The defeat definitely signals Mohun Bagan’s exit from AFC Cup this season. Yasfaadh Habeed opened the scoresheet for the home team as early in the 13th minute of the match. Mohamed Umair scored the second goal for his side in the 27th minute. A. Rakic put the hosts 3-0 ahead with a superb strike in the 45th minute. Maziya lead 3-0 at the breather. Bagan pulled one back immediately after the half time through Kingshuk Debnath in the 48th minute. The hosts struck again through Assadhulla Abdulla in the 54th minute while Rakic scored the fifth and final goal for the hosts. Jeje Lalpekhlua scored a consolation goal in the 78th minute off a penalty. The Mariners earlier lost to the same opponents at home when 10-man Maziya Sports club beat them 1-0 in a Group E tie at the Rabindra Sarobar Stadium
It was the second biggest loss for the I League runners in the history of AFC Cup. The Kolkata club has been playing in the AFC Cup since 2007. They have qualified for the premier club tournament on four previous ocassions. Their previous huge margin of loss was against Jubilo Iwata of Japan, when they lost 0-8 in the Asian Club Cup in 1999. Mohun Bagan’s history against the foreign teams is far from impressive. The top five worst loses for Mohun Bagan against foreign team post independence are as follows:
Asian Club Cup, 1999: Jubilo Iwata (Japan) 8:0 – Mohun Bagan suffered its biggest margin of defeat (0-8) against Japanse side Jubilo Iwata way back in October 08, 1999. The J League side made a mockery of the Mohun Bagan team in an Asian Club Cup match in 1999. Iwata handed the Indian side an embarassing away defeat.
Asian Championship League, 2002: Taejon Citizen (South Korea) 6:0 – Yet another humiliating defeat for the Mariners. The I League runners lost 0-6 to Taejon Citizen of South Korea in the Asian Championship League on November 13, 2002.
Asian Club Cup, 1998: Wanbow (China) 6:0 – Mohun Bagan’s third biggest loss against a foreign team was against Wanbow club of China. The Chinese side handed Bagan a 6-0 thrashing in the final round of Asian Club Cup in 1998.
Qualifying round of Asian Champions League, 2016: Sendong FC (China) 6:0 – Another Chinese side Sendong FC handed out a humiliating 6-0 defeat in the Qualifying round of Asian Champions League last year. In an one sided encounter at Jinan Olympic Sports Centre Stadium, Sony Norde and co surrendered meekly to their fancied opponents by a huge 6-0 margin on February 02, 2016
AFC Cup, 2009: Quwait FC (Quwait) 6:0 – The Mariners first big loss in AFC Cup history came against Quwait FC when they lost 0-6 in Quwait in 2009. The club from middle-east thrashed Mohun Bagan en-route to a 6-0 win.
Statistics provided by Hariprasad Chattopadhyay