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With both teams drawing their first match and Shillong Lajong off to a bright start, the two Kolkata big boys had much ground to gain in this I-League's first Kolkata Derby of te season.
It was Mohun Bagan who emerged 1-0 winners playing as the home side today, a first-half goal from their centre-back Kingsley Eze making the difference. East Bengal had more possession and much more of the attacks in the second half as Bagan opted to sit back and soak up the pressure. However, they couldn't find the breakthrough and continued their struggles against Bagan in this fixture.
Here's what stood out from the game:
#1 Mehtab wins the race to the first yellow
In a clash such as this, emotions are always high as the voices of the passionate fans in the stadium does get the adrenaline going. Matches in the Kolkata derby are always heated and it's usually a game within a game to see who gets the first yellow card and how the referee, in general, officiates the game.
Today it was East Bengal's Mehtab Singh who received the first yellow of the match in the 14th minute. Funnily enough, his teammate Gurwinder Singh and Mohun Bagan's Dipanda Dicka were engaged in a shoving match, not too far from Mehtab, but escaped punishment.
After the yellow, Mehtab soon found his Kolkata derby appearance prematurely ended when he was subbed off just minutes later.
East Bengal won the yellow card battle three to two.
#2 Subs inside half an hour for both sides
There were no goals in the first 30 minutes, but what we did get were two substitutions; both teams' right-backs coincidentally getting the hook.
Coaches do often feel the need to change something, but it is a rarity when both coaches choose to make early substitutions. As mentioned earlier, East Bengal's Khalid Jamil chose to take Mehtab off in just the 22nd minute, replacing him with Lalram Chullova. It was a substitution that Jamil made in their previous game as well, after 38 minutes in that instance. It will certainly be intriguing to know what Jamil's reasoning is as he's done the exact same substitution in both games thus far.
Sanjoy Sen, on the other hand, chose to take off Naro Shrestha and put on SK Faiaz in the 29th minute. It didn't look like Shrestha was suffering from any sort of injury. Perhaps Sen deemed he wasn't making much of an impact. Will be interesting to know.
#3 Wasteful Kromah
Liberian Ansumanah Kroma, roped in from Churchill Brothers for whom he scored eight goals last season, had a forgettable game for Bagan. The trio of Sony Norde, Dicka and Kromah was expected to cause trouble for the East Bengal defence. And their movement did indeed pose problem's to Bagan's rivals.
However, Kromah displayed some poor decision making with the ball at his feet in good positions. On more than one occasion, when he would have been better served passing the ball to another player, he chose to either take a shot or drive through a crowd of defenders that led to him losing the ball.
Norde was clearly frustrated with Kromah so many times for not getting him the ball when he was in space. These were chances missed for Bagan.
#4 Jamil's team 'lose concentration' again
"Bad defending, everyone made mistakes, we conceded from a corner..."
That wasn't Jamil talking about this derby, but rather the East Bengal coach's words after their 2-2 draw against Aizawl FC. Well, all of those things that he talked about happened again.
As Bagan began to pick up the pace in the first half, they began to win more corners as well. Sadly for East Bengal, their defenders seemed more interested in squabbling with the Bagan players than paying attention to their defending. Eduardo Ferreira had already dealt with a few dangerous balls in what should have been a warning to East Bengal.
But, in the 40th minute, a Norde delivery from the right corner flag was missed by the entire East Bengal defence as they just watched it sail by. Kingsley Eze, in contrast, actually attacked the ball and gave his side the lead with a decisive header.
In the end, it proved to be the game-winner and Jamil will clearly not be happy at having conceded in such a manner after what happened in the first game. Club captain Arnab Mondal also did not feature today amid reports of a rift between himself and Jamil.
It's been a difficult start to last year's I-League winning coach who has some issues to sort out.
#5 Kingsley outstanding, but striker worries mount for Bagan
One of Jamil's old boys, Kingsley Eze was the match-winner on the day, not just with the goal, but also an outstanding defensive performance.
The league winner from last year with Aizawl FC, Kingsley was sharpest to react to a Norde corner in the first half to nod in the only goal of the match. On the defensive end, he kept a tight leash on Willis Plaza initially and also on Charles De Souza, who came on as a half-time substitute. He's already proving to be a very smart signing.
His tireless tracking of the East Bengal forwards was a key reason behind Bagan's shut out of their opponents in this game. They needed that brave rearguard effort too after Sen adopted a defensive approach post-Dicka's injury.
Despite the win, Dicka's injury will be a source of concern for Bagan as it looked bad. He looked unable to use his right shoulder with what could be a dislocation. With the likes of Jeje Lalpekhlua and Balwant Singh having left for the Indian Super League, Bagan are short on options up front.
