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Mohun Bagan comprehensively beat East Bengal in their I-League meeting this afternoon. The win boosts their chances of getting back in the title race while slowing down their cross-town rivals' very own charge. Dipanda Dicka scored a brace for Bagan who really could have won this game by a bigger margin.
Here's what stood out from the game:
#1 Bagan start with a bang!
We saw a really early goal from Jamshedpur FC this week in their encounter against the Kerala Blasters in the ISL and we got another one here in the Kolkata derby.
Mohun Bagan, the away side in this particular fixture, exploded out of the blocks to score in the very first minute of the game. East Bengal's defence was all out of symmetry when Bagan attacked at pace with Nikhil Kadam delivering a superb cross in from the right. Bagan's two strikers, Akram Moghrabi and Dipanda Dicka combined beautifully to do the rest.
Moghrabi won the initial header, cushioning it back across to Dicka who unleashed a powerful shot into the top corner to send the Bagan fans delirious with joy and shock their cross-city rivals. It was a brilliant finish from Dicka to get such a big game off on the best possible note for his side.
#2 Double trouble for the Red and Gold
As if watching your team concede in the very first minute of the game wasn't bad enough, Khalid Jamil's troubles were exacerbated when influential midfielder Mahmoud Al Amnah had to replaced in just the third minute.
As Bagan went about scoring the opener, the Syrian had gone down limping and his participation in the match was soon over as Jamil was forced to bring on Bazie Armand in place of Al Amnah.
Al Amnah has been one of the main creators in attack for East Bengal this season and this was a massive setback indeed, especially after conceding that early goal.
#3 We need to talk about this goal
After giving his team the lead, Dipanda Dicka scored a possible goal of the season contender again to extend his side's advantage in the 35th minute.
And what a goal it was! Dicka was off his feet, suspended in the air as he struck this one; some serious airtime!
It came from a corner; Raynier Fernandes' ball in was headed straight for Dicka. The East Bengal defence looked in position to deal with it as they had five defenders around the forward. However, they had not anticipated Dicka to pull off this outrageous strike with a bit of improvisation.
Dicka proceeded to elevate himself off the ground and launch a stunning scissor-kick that beat the East Bengal all ends up.
An absolute stunner!
Make sure you hit up the highlights of this game to catch this goal.
It was also a good comeback from Dicka after former Bagan forward Ansumanah Kromah made critical comments about Dicka, saying that he wasn't fit enough to score from open play and blaming him for Bagan's struggles this season. It was a good way to silence the critics.
#4 Jamil just couldn't find a solution today
Khalid Jamil is now 0/2 in Kolkata derbies.
However, while their first match-up was a close one that Bagan edged, they were very much outplayed here today.
He was up against it from the start and could not find anything to wrest the momentum in his side's favour. After the forced change involving Bazie and Al Amnah, Jamil made a second first-half change, taking off Prakash Sarkar for Surabuddin Mallick.
That really didn't change things much. In the second half, try as they might, they weren't able to trouble the Bagan defence much.
This defeat means East Bengal have now gone three games without a win and their title charge has just suffered a bit of a stutter as a result. Things are getting extremely tight at the top of the table in the I-League and East Bengal need to get back to winning ways quickly.
#5 Bagan stick it to their rivals again despite Norde departure
The Mariners completed the double over East Bengal with this 2-0 win today.
And it was just a fantastic performance really that blew their rivals away as the scoreline really doesn't tell how much better Bagan were on the day.
From start to finish, all over the pitch, Bagan were better than East Bengal and in reality, this game could have easily finished 4-0, 5-0, even 6-0 to Bagan; they were that dominant.
While East Bengal were sweating at creating chances, Bagan were able to open up their opponents at will. SK Faiaz was a major tormentor for East Bengal today and along with Cameron Watson and Raynier Fernandes, they controlled the midfield totally. Nikhil Kadam down the other flank was also superb. He missed three gilt-edged chances to score though that he will have sleepless nights over. Bagan were all over East Bengal here.
And their forward line of Akram Moghrabi and Dipanda Dicka clearly outshone Dudu and Willis Plaza. It was a great debut for Moghrabi, the Lebanese striker dominating the aerial battles with the East Bengal defence. He could have scored two goals with some better finishing.
The result will be a huge shot in the arm for Bagan as it closes the gap to the top in the table.
