Mohun Bagan Seals A Point Against Weak Lajong

0220Barasat: Mohun Bagan came from behind to seal a point against Shillong Lajong FC in the crucial encounter at Barasat tonight. The mariners were held 1-1 by the highlanders.  Konsham Singh (30′) opened the scoring before Jeje Lalpekhlua (59′) ensured that Lajong team cannot take away 3 points from Barasat.

Thangboi Singto started with Uilliams Souza and Fabio Pena upfront with Penn Orji controlling the midfield.

Sanjoy Sen meanwhile had U-22 player Sarthak Golui on the right side of the defense while Kean Lewis was awarded with his second start after his brilliant display against Bengaluru FC.

It was Lajong who began the better of the two sides as Uilliams created chances through the middle with the Mariners’ defense panic without any reason.

With Katsumi Yusa starting in an unusual position in the central midfield along with Bikramjit Singh, Bagan were lacking a player who could move forward when needed. This was exploited well by Penn and co. in the opening exchanges.

One of Uilliams’ forward pass in the fourth minute ended up with him being bundled over by Luciano Sabrosa just outside the box. However, Uilliams could only strike the resulting free-kick over the bar.

The hosts had a chance of their own in the ninth minute when Dhanachandra Singh moved forward, dribbling past Samuel Shadap before finding Cornell Glen inside the box. The Trinidad and Tobago striker spun well but his shot was just wide.

Bagan’s defense looked horrible as they fumbled a lot. Luciano was the only one who looked cool in difficult situations.

Lajong deservedly took the lead on the half-hour mark. A corner towards the near post by Uilliams was directed towards goal by Aiborlang Khongjee and Konsham Singh was on hand to tap it into an open net. Sarthak Golui who was marking Konsham lost his man completely, allowing Konsham with the easiest of goals.

Sony had his chances but could not convert those chances otherwise the score line could have been different. At the stroke of half time the score line remained 1-0 in favor of Lajong.

Glen looked ordinary tonight in the forward line and he was replaced by Balwant Singh in the 54th minute.

In the 59th minute, Bikramjit found Jeje in the box whose first touch completely took Aibor out of the game, as he spun around and finished through the legs of a despairing Kaith.

In the 80th minute, the home side had two open chances. First it was Norde who played a lovely ball to an unmarked Jeje inside the box, only to see Kaith palm his shot over the bar.

With five minutes added on, Katsumi beat at least three men before being bundled over on the edge of the box. Norde’s free-kick came out to Souvik whose volley was high and wide.

In spite of Bagan’s dominance in the second half, Lajong somehow held on to earn a point.

At the post match conference Sanjoy Sen was unhappy with the team’s missed chances. He quoted as saying, “ This was supposed to be a 5-1 victory for us. Sony Norde could have scored a hattrick himself if would have utilized the chances. The draw is neither a setback for me nor for my team. Glen has shocked me today. I will speak to him later about his performance.”

Lajong FC coach Thangboi Singto said, ”Our boys played like lions. I am very proud of them. But the standard of refereeing is poor. We wasted time as it was the part of our strategy.”

Bagan are now leading the table with 15 points from 7 games while Lajong are 9 points from same number of games. Mohun Bagan is set to play Sporting Clube de Goa on 20th February At Barasat.