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Mohun Bagan Super Giant and Mumbai City FC will clash in the final league game of the Indian Super League (ISL) season for the league winners' shield on Monday.
Mumbai City FC currently rule the roost, sitting pretty with 47 points in 21 games at the top of the table. Breathing down their neck in hot pursuit are the Mariners with 45 points in as many games.
The Islanders will go through even with a draw and they have never lost to the Mariners in their four seasons in the ISL. However, despite needing all three titles to seal the title, Bagan will have the wind in their sails as it is a home game. The Yuva Bharati Krirangan will be decked green and maroon and bouncing on the eve of the match.
The two sides are not only the richest clubs in the country but have also been the most consistent since Bagan joined the league and the City Football Group acquired a majority stake at Mumbai City FC.
Both the Mariners and Islanders have since clashed in high-profile and high-octane encounters. Let's have a look at three such games which left the Indian Football audience in raptures due to the footballing quality and drama on display.
#3 Mohun Bagan 3-1 Mumbai City FC, Durand Cup 2023
Until a year ago, the Mumbai-based outfit had always been the Achilles' heel for Mohun Bagan. They had been winless against the Islanders in all of their eight matches, a ridiculous stat for a club as successful as the Mariners.
However, that changed in the quarter-finals of the Durand Cup 2023 as the Green and Maroon Brigade scored three and conceded just one to secure a spot in the final four.
Jason Cummings gave them the lead through a penalty before Jorge Pereyra Diaz soon equalized. However, the crowd urged Bagan on and they kept growing in confidence. Manvir Singh headed in a Hugo Boumous cross to restore the lead for the home side.
Anwar Ali sealed a historic victory for the Mariners with a thumping header around the hour mark. Mohun Bagan went onto lift their 16th Durand Cup crown after this victory.
#2 Mumbai City FC 5-1 Mohun Bagan, ISL 2021-22
In what was only Des Buckingham's third game in charge of Mumbai City FC, the Englishman provided a masterclass in tactics on that fated night at the Fatorda Stadium.
Antonio Lopez Habas' side had spent a lot in the erstwhile transfer window and had trouble accommodating so much firepower into the starting XI. Liston Colaco and Manvir Singh, capable forwards in their own right, had to slot in as wingbacks, while midfielder Carl McHugh played as a centre-back.
Sensing how defensively volatile Mohun Bagan's flanks were, Buckingham got his midfield maestro Ahmed Jahouh to ping balls into his pacy wingers. Vikram Pratap Singh and Bipin Singh tore past the wingbacks and the Mariners' defense fell like a pack of cards.
Vikram Pratap scored twice and Igor Angulo once in the first half itself. Miseries continued for Habas' team in the second half as Deepak Tangri was sent off and Mourtada Fall and Bipin made it five. David Williams' consolation goal meant that the game ended 5-1, the biggest rout the club has faced in the ISL.
#3 Mumbai City FC 2-1 Mohun Bagan, ISL 2020/21 Final
Monday has been set up as a veritable final for the ISL League Winners' Shield. But it won't be the first time the two teams have clashed for silverware. In the 2020/21 season, both sides were neck and neck for both the Shield and the ISL trophy.
Mumbai defeated Bagan in a very similar situation to Monday 2-0 to lift the Shield and faced them again in the final. This time however, Habas' men met Sergio Lobera's with more fight.
In the 18th minute of the game, David Williams found the net for the Mariners, capitalizing on a mistake. However, Tiri, who will be in Mumbai's blue on Monday, scored an own goal for Mohun Bagan and restored parity to the tie.
After 90 minutes of end-to-end high octane footballing action, stoppage time began and fortune smiled down on the Islanders. Arindam Bhattacharya made a shocking mistake in Bagan's goal and Bipin Singh found the back of the net to gift the trophy to Mumbai City, who remain the only team to do the double in the ISL.
