Internet Desk: It was the first away game in this Hero I-League season for Mohun Bagan and the minnows Chennai City FC produced a stellar performance before going down losing by 1-2 against the title contenders at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium at Chennai. The Chennai custodian Karanjit Singh made justice to his reputation as the former Indian International appeared to be a wall between the Bagan forwards and the goal in many occasions but still failed to save his team from losing.
It was Mohun Bagan who started the game in their usual fashion in the 7th minute of the game as Sony Norde got a great opportunity to score. But Karanjit narrowed the angle superbly well to force him shoot wide of the goal. The home side countered in the 10th minute when Dhanpal Ganesh produced a fine ball to Tank but the Brazilian couldn’t do much as Debjit came off his line very quickly.
In the 11th minute Karanjit made two outstanding back to back saves, first off Norde and then off Souvik Chakraborty to prevent the Mariners from scoring. The Green and Maroon brigade continued to attack as Duffy made a superb solo run in the 13th minute and his shot was superbly stopped by Karanjit. Sony Norde got the rebound ball and his powerful right footer went just wide.
In the 26th minute Chennai got the best chance of the game as Charles got Debjit one on one but failed to beat him and Subhasish Bose cleared the rebound. Mohun Bagan got a glorious opportunity in the 34th minute when Joseph Clemente tripped Norde inside the box and earned a penalty. Taking everyone aback, Karanjit made a stupendous save to deny the Haitian from scoring.
The second half was even more dramatic as Chennai scored against the run of play by capitalizing two novice mistakes by first Eduardo and then by Debjit. Brazilian forward Tank did all the hard work and placed it at the back of the net in the 53rd minute.
Mohun Bagan equalized immediately in the 57th minute through Jeje, who scored his third goal of this season after some terrific individual skills by Sony Norde to compensate his earlier mistake.
The Haitian continued his dominance when he scored in the 76th minute after getting a delightful through ball from substitute Balwant Singh. Norde pushed the ball at the back of the net by beating an advancing Karanjit Singh to make it 2-1.
Chennai got a late chance to equalize in the 90th minute but Denson Devdas’ shot went inches over the bar against his former club.
The victory helps them to go on top again with 12 points from 4 games to maintain their winning streak against the Chennai City FC.
Hero of The Match: Tank