East Bengal remain at the top of the I-League after a hard-fought goalless draw against Mohun Bagan in this season’s first Kolkata derby. Both side’s produced solid defensive performances at the Kanchanjangha Stadium in Siliguri.
#1 Jampacked midfield results in deadlock
Around the 12th minute, Bagan’s Souvik Chakraborty received the ball in the opposition half. He looked up and surprisingly found himself with 15 yards of free space to move forward. You’d reckon he would have moved ahead with intent. Instead, he chose to play a backwards pass. That move was a testament to what transpired in the first half.
An ugly midfield battle ensued for the entire 45-minutes. At times, it got nasty. Both sides deployed heavy numbers in the middle of the park and neither wished to take the risk of dealing with situations in their final third. As a result, there were moments when Bagan forward, Duffy had to fall back into his own half to receive the ball.
East Bengal’s Robin Singh, though, as we all know, doesn’t like doing the same. The stakes were high and so were the number of players around the centre circle.
#2 No sign of stage fright from Rahul Bheke
The last time they took to the pitch, Bagan got the better of Colombo FC in the AFC Cup qualifiers, thanks to their star man Sony Norde. The winger couldn’t repeat his heroics today as he wasn’t afforded the space to do so.
East Bengal’s right back, Rahul Bheke’s intelligent defending ensured that the Haitian didn’t run riot on the wings. Bheke didn’t hound Norde, neither did he get physical with him. Instead, he positioned himself extremely well. The Indian consistently coerced Sony inwards, an area that the winger usually loves entering.
But East Bengal had parked numbers in the middle. It meant Norde often found himself heading into traffic. Sony was stifled and he didn’t like it one bit. Rahul not only defended well, he added numbers in attack and combined well with Nikhil Poojary down the right wing.
#3 Usual suspects fail to turn up
Ahead of this crunch game, East Bengal coach Trevor Morgan put things into perspective. While his side stand at the top of the I-League points table, their rivals, Mohun Bagan are part of a quartet hunting down his side. “Anybody can beat anybody this season and even Shillong Lajong and Aizawl FC are doing well this season”, he said.
Probably sending across a message to Bagan in the process. The first time these two sides locked horns in the I-League was back in 2008, that match ended 2-2. Indian legend, Bhaichung Bhutia scored in that game. Today, the stellar names failed to impose themselves on the match.
For Bagan, Duffy, Jeje and Katsumi were completely snuffed out of the game. Robin Singh, Wedson Anselme and Plaza rarely troubled the keeper. Defenders from both sides produced good, solid performances. A moment of brilliance or a glaring error was the only probable source for a goal. Neither arrived.
#4 Reassuring centre backs can guide Bagan to the title
In the build-up to this match, there were rumours doing the rounds about who Sanjoy Sen would choose as his centre-back pairing. Fortunately for him, Eduardo Ferreira and Anas Edathodika recovered just in time. Unfortunately for him, they had played only one match together before today.
A lack of understanding between the two would have been a source of concern for Bagan’s coach. But the Brazilian-Indian pairing were compact at the back and rarely put a foot wrong. They timed their tackles to perfection and made numerous crucial interceptions.
Time and again, East Bengal’s trio of Robin Singh, Plaza and Anselme attempted to catch them off guard. Plaza, in particular, was a handful to deal with, the pacy forward posed the clearest threat to Anas and Eduardo. But the duo held their own much to Sen’s delight.
If they can remain fit for the rest of the season, hopes of Bagan lifting another I-League title could be enhanced.
#5 Both goalkeepers had far too little to do
There’s no way to know how many calories both goalkeepers burnt in the match, but from the looks of it, it wouldn’t have been much. Debjit Majumder and Rehenesh TP looked ready to rumble. They knew that a save could make or break their side’s fortunes.
Majumder’s brilliant save to deny Plaza from close range was one of the highlights of the match. Apart from that, neither shot-stoppers were tested to their limits. They did the simple things right and commanded the penalty area well.
Rehenesh ended up as the man of the match. He was solid at the back and marshalled his defenders efficiently. There were moments of confusion in his area but none resulted in any kind of real threat to his goal. Debjit was the busier among the two in a match that saw chances, few and far between. Neither will be complaining about it.
