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What's the story?
Shankarlal Chakraborty secured all three points in his first match as the head coach of Mohun Bagan in Kolkata on Sunday.
Mohun Bagan sailed past defending champions Aizawl FC 2-0 at the Salt Lake Stadium to stay in the hunt for the I-League title. Afghan defender Masih Saighani scored an own goal to put the hosts ahead in the 53rd minute. Dipanda Dicka doubled the lead in the 75th minute.
The new coach was given a piece of advice by the club's former coach Sanjoy Sen ahead of the afternoon kickoff.
In case you didn't know...
Mohun Bagan finally secured full points after a string of poor performances in the last four games. The match was evenly poised in the first half with Aizawl’s Nigerian recruit hitting the woodwork in the 16th minute.
Following that, Mohun Bagan took control of the game and even came to close to break the deadlock but Mama’s goal-line save to keep the scores level. But that was not enough to save the match and eventually lost the match 0-2.
The heart of the matter
Sanjoy Sen, who was in charge of Mohun Bagan for the past few seasons, has led them to their maiden I-League title in 2015, stepped down from his position following the loss to Chennai City FC.
During the post-match conference, newly appointed coach Shankarlal said, “I had a chat with Sanjoy Sen this morning, he advised me to believe in myself. He even wished me luck on WhatsApp.”
What's next?
Mohun Bagan is scheduled to play Minerva Punjab at the same venue in two days time. This win will definitely boost the ‘Mariners’ and another win on Wednesday will be perfect before the all-important Kolkata Derby on January 21.
Author's take
Without a doubt, the Kolkata giants have one of the most balanced teams in the entire league, but somehow they were unable to showcase their best in the recent days.
Losing their key players is one of the reasons with Haitian winger Sony Norde out of action for quite some time. Sony is likely to make a comeback in the Kolkata Derby and hopefully, it will change the fortunes for Bagan.
