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East Bengal made an emphatic comeback against Mohun Bagan to win the Kolkata Derby after 22 months. They won by a 3-2 margin, although surviving a late upsurge by their opponents, at the Salt Lake Stadium on Sunday. This win will also help East Bengal to come back in the title fight.
Mohun Bagan got the lead in the 12th minute through a brilliant run from Azharuddin Mullick, who was left open by Manoj Mohammed and poked the ball home with a soft touch. East Bengal took just six minutes to equaliser after Jobby Justin made a wonderful pass to Lalram Chullova, who took one touch before beating Sankar Roy.
East Bengal took the lead in 44th minute from another clear team play, where Chullova headed Manoj Mohammed cross into the box. Jobby Justin, left open by Mohun Bagan defence took a side volley to put the ball into the net. East Bengal got one more when Laldanmawia scored his second. Mohun Bagan showed late fight and Dipanda Dicka scored in the 75th minute but it was not enough to secure them a draw.
However, the match was marred by some controversial calls from referee and Venkatesh R as Mohun Bagan coach Shankarlal Chakroborty accused Eze Kingsley shouldn’t have been shown the marching order and Laldanmawia was on off-side during his first goal.
But East Bengal coach Alejandro Menendez dismissed such claims and said certain things happen in a football match where some decisions don’t come in favour of a particular team. “I don’t know whether Danmawia was off-side. I have to check it on the TV. But the decision of the referee is final. Sometime it goes in our way and sometime it doesn’t. Yes he committed some mistakes but that’s natural in a game,” Menendez said in the post-match press conference.
Shankarlal also accused East Bengal winger player Jaime Santos of play-acting. When asked his view on this, Menendez said, “I don’t think so. He was fouled so many times by the Mohun Bagan defenders. He reacted and that doesn’t mean he was acting on the field.”
Rather, Menendez was effusive in his praise to Santos, who won fan-hearts with his impressive display in the first half. “He came only a few days ago. He worked hard and today we saw his brilliant performance. He was a bit down in the second half and the team were suffering for that. But that happens when you play a match after one month gap,” Menendez said. “We played Jaime as a striker and we are happy with his performance. Not him but all the attackers were brilliant and you saw Danmawia was man of the match,” the gaffer added.
Man of the match, Laldanmawia Ralte, who scored in the previous two Calcutta Football League derbies, said, “This will give me extra motivation to perform. I always give my hundred per cent for the club. It was extra special to win the derby.”
This was the first Derby for the Spanish coach and he felt overwhelmed to see the enthusiasm of the players. “It was such an excellent environment. It’s great to play such matches in front of so many people. We wish continue the same performance to keep our supporters happy,” Menendez signed off.
