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The Mariners were held to a third straight draw both in the league and at home on a historic afternoon for the Kolkata Maidan in its maiden I-League match. Mohun Bagan forwards Dicka and Kromah were not up to the mark and were pretty wasteful in the final third. The absence of Sony Norde was clearly visible in the match.
Lack of diligence and creativity from the home side resulted in the Arrows taking full advantage and they exploited the Bagan defence on several times. The presence of fans close to the field added additional pressure to the players but yielded no result but a single point for the home side.
The Mariners defence was stable throughout the match but the inefficiency of the forward line is proving detrimental to Mohun Bagan's second I-League title aspirations.
Meanwhile, it was yet another impressive performance from the Indian Arrows, as they held Mohun Bagan to an evenly matched draw. The Arrows defied the physicality of the Mohun Bagan side with patient build-up play. Short passes and crisp wing play allowed them to poach upon the Bagan goal several times.
Dheeraj Singh was the stand out performer for the young side based in New Delhi, as his brilliant reflexes did not allow Bagan any chance to cheer after the dreaded penalty in the first half. The back four was immensely disciplined which allowed the forwards to march comfortably.
On that note, let's take a look at how the players performed in the match.
Mohun Bagan
Shilton Paul (9/10): The veteran shot-stopper pulled out his best throughout the game but could not save Rahul's successful tap-in.
Ricky Lallawmawma (7/10): The young defender was taken for a toll by Naorem and Meetei throughout the match.
Kinshuk Debnath (7.5/10): The veteran was successfully outrun by Rahim Ali during the goal which was rather embarrassing for the experienced campaigner. He had a tough time dealing with the pacy wingers of the young Arrows side.
Abhishek Das (8/10): Abhishek Das was pivotal in defending against the away side. His ability to track back quickly did not allow much space to the Arrows.
Eze Kingsley (8/10): The hero of the Derby had a good game at the back. He was crucial in heading away the incisive curling balls from set-pieces and the corners.
Seikh Faiaz (6.5/10): The former Mohammedan man had a day to forget at the right flanks, with poor crosses on regular intervals.
Raynier Fernandes (6/10): The young midfielder could not perform at his best and he was troubled due to the presence of Amarjit Singh and Suresh Singh in the centre of the park.
Shilton de Silva (7/10): Shilton showed few moments of individual brilliance but was slow in delivering the final ball in the danger zone.
Nikhil Kadam (8.5/10): The Maharashtra lad had a brilliant as his pacy crosses and overlaps was a menace for the Arrows defenders to deal with. His crosses fell to Dicka and Kromah on several occasions, but the strikers could not find their feet quick enough to finish them off.
Dipanda Dicka (6.5/10): Dicka had an off-day with several misses and hopeless runs but for the opening penalty.
Ansumana Kromah (5.5/10): Kromah was off colour as well and did not show much of his expected performance.
Substitutes
Manandeep Singh (5.5/10): The substitute got a couple of good chances in and outside the box, but he could not place his shots on target and was pretty wasteful.
Azharuddin Mallick (6/10): The youngster added a considerable amount of pressure and pace to Mohun Bagan but it did not yield the required results.
Chelsterpaul Lyngdoh (N/A):
Indian Arrows
Dheeraj Singh (9.5/10): The Manipuri shot-stopper was the hero of the match for his splendid performance under the bars with his pinpoint outings and catching off the ball. He pulled off a few good saves as well.
Jeakson Singh (8/10): The towering defender was rock solid and crucial in both scoring off and defending the corners.
Nongdamba Naorem (7.5/10): The talk of the town had an off day as he was mauraded due to Kingsley's physicality.
Rahul KP (9/10): The young lad was extremely agile on the right flanks with his darting runs during both tracking back to defend.
Amarjit Singh (5/10): The Captain was dynamic in the midfield with beautiful hold-up play but was sent off in the second half after being booked twice.
Suresh Singh (8/10): His corners troubled the Mariners in the box time to time.
Jitendra Singh (8.5/10): He was aggressive and performed some timely tackles and interceptions to keep Dicka and Kromah in check.
Sanjeev Stalin (9/10): Stalin was brilliant on the left flank with towering clearances and dangerous in-swinging free kicks in the final third.
Anwar Ali (8.5/10) : The towering lad was similar to Stalin in his defensive performances with brave tackles to cut off several of Mohun Bagan attacks.
Ashish Rai (9/10): He sustained an injury during the match. Rai was brilliant in the first half with several timely standing tackles and thwarted the Mohun Bagan attackers by using his mild physical abilities.
Rahim Ali (8/10): Ali's darting run surprised the crowd and the players as his cross allowed Rahul to tap it in for the goal. He was efficient in attacks and also tracked back on few occasions for collective defending.
Substitutes
Ninthoi Meetei (6/10): The Manipuri came on for Naorem and provided some pace to the Arrows on the left flank in the second half.
Abhijit Sarkar (N/A)
Deepak Tangri (N/A)
