#5 Mohun Bagan 5-3 East Bengal (I-League, 2009)
Stories of revenge are always sweet, when it comes after 3 decades, it is sweeter. If Bhaichung had been the derby hero in 1997, this time, it was a foreigner, Edeh Chidi. Chidi had been on the side of the Mariners, in a match which saw Mohun Bagan pumping in 5 past the East Bengal defence for the first time in history. The Salt Lake stadium was packed to a hilt and this got to the nerves of many players, including goalkeepers Shilton Paul and Abhra Mondal.
Reminiscent of Bhaskar Ganguly’s errors in 1975, Shilton was the first to let his MB defence down. Paul completely missed the flight of an inviting corner, allowing Nirmal Singh to draw first blood. The lead didn’t last long, with Chidi coming into his own in the 18th minute.
The Nigerian striker brushed aside Govin Singh to make the scores level. You could feel the temperatures rise in the arena and all eyes were fixed on the well-built striker. Four minutes after equalizing, Chidi assisted for midfielder Manish Mathani to score with a long-ranger. Chidi scored with a brilliant goal from a Barreto cross, making it 3-1 in the 33rd minute.
Shilton Paul, who didn’t have much to do after his first disaster, joined the party. Two poor errors ensured veteran striker Yusuf Yakubu scoring two goals, bringing the scoreline to 3-3. Never had the audiences seen a similar scoreline at half-time in a Kolkata derby match.
Mohun Bagan coach Karim Bencherifa played out his cards well in the second half. He knew his team could score many, and he galvanized the defence by replacing Shilton Paul with Sangram Mukherjee. With tonnes of experience, Mukherjee brought the much-needed calmness to the backline of MB defence.
With a positive change in the defence part, Mohun Bagan suffered a jolt in the attack. Talismanic forward Jose Ramirez Barreto had to leave the field with an injury, teary-eyed. Supporters thought it would become a dull affair post this, but Barreto’s strike partner had other plans.
In the first minute of 2nd half, Snehashish Chakraborty whipped in a cross into the box. James Singh rose the highest to get it into the way of Chidi, who blasted home to complete his hat-trick and re-wrote history books. Chidi became the first foreigner to score a hat-trick in a Kolkata derby.
The story wasn’t to end at this. Chidi still had an appetite for more, and he soon proved that. A few minutes later, Chidi headed in a Marcos Perreira free-kick to make it 5-3 and became the first player ever to score four goals in a derby between these two teams. Records were broken throughout the match, and the Green and Maroon brigade still feel happy about the match.
Fun Fact: Subhash Bhowmick, who was coaching East Bengal in this match, was one of the chief architects of the infamous victory in 1975. Thus, the great man had to bear the ignominy of defeat at the hands of his previous club.
NOTE: In 2012, a match between these two sides ended after the first half. Star Striker and Mohun Bagan’s main hope, Odafa Okolie, was red-carded after a goal from Harmanjot Singh Khabra had scored with a header to give East Bengal a slender 1-0 lead. Mohun Bagan was hit with a ban of two years from I-League, which was later reverted with a fine. This match saw a lot of drama, field mishaps and police could not control a fighting crowd.
Erstwhile Mohun Bagan player Syed Rahim Nabi got poorly injured after being hit by something thrown from the crowd. The match was abandoned by the AIFF. Some may agree to remember this match for its histrionics, but it would seldom catch your breath if you discuss football. So, we did not include it in this list.
