Guwahati: Mohun Bagan thrashed Maziya S&RC 5-2 in the opening match of the AFC Cup at Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati. Mohun bagan took the upper hand from the opening minute of the match. Mohun Bagan almost grabbed the match in the first-half by leading 3-0. MOhun bagan became little complacent in the second half and Maziya took full advantage and reduced the deficit in the 61st minute from A. Imaz. Mohun Bagan woke up after that goal and started putting pressure on the opposition defense. Besides Sony(19mins), Jeje (33mins, 79mins) and Glen (35 mins , 71 mins) scored a brace. In the 76th minute Raju Gaikwad scored an own goal trying to clear the ball from the mariners defense. At the end Mohun Bagan won the match 5-2 but Coach Sanjoy Sen made some changes in the playing xi. Debjit majumder was rested and Shilton Paul got a chance under the post after a long time while Lenny Rodrigues debuted in Mohun bagan jersey after recovering from injury in place of Bikramjit Singh. Prabir Das who used to come in as a substitute in many of the matches in the I-league got a start today. Though Mohun Bagan will not be able to avail the services of Luciano Sabrosa and Pronay Halder in the next I-league fixture against Salgaocar on 27th due to suspension, Sanjoy Sen did not rest them but played them in the eleven. As only two teams will qualify for the next round, that’s why Sanjoy Sen did not take any risk and played all the foreigners to win by a huge margin.
Meanwhile, Bengaluru FC went down to Lao Toyota of Laos 2-1 in another fixture of the AFC Cup. Goals from Kazuo Homma (3mins) and Phatthana Syvilay (35mins) made it 2-0 before the half time. Bengaluru FC pulled one back in the 91 st minute through a CK Vineeth but it was too little too late for the Blues who should have done better in the box.