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Despite taking the lead early on in the first half, Mohun Bagan Super Giant slumped to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Bashundhara Kings in Round 4 of Group D matches in AFC Cup 2023-24 at the Bashundhara Kings Arena on Tuesday.
After being held to a stalemate in the home leg, the Mariners, harboring hopes of snatching all three points this time, traveled to Bangladesh to ensure their qualification to the knockout rounds.
The Indian Super League outfit got off to a strong start, with some half-chances in the early minutes. Manvir Singh came close to breaking the deadlock when he hit the side netting, but ultimately it was Liston Colaco who put Juan Ferrando's men ahead in the 17th minute.
After being sent through down the left flank by a neat pass from Subhasish Bose, Jason Cummings drilled in a low cross into the center. The Bashundhara goalkeeper, Hasan Srabon, managed to palm the ball away, but the rebound fell to Liston, who calmly tucked it home. Mohun Bagan's goal initiated a strong response from the hosts right away.
Bashundhara Kings came close to restoring parity soon when Miguel Figueira was one-on-one with Vishal Kaith inside the opposition box. However, the Brazilian midfielder miscued his effort, much to the respite of the visitors. A couple of other missed opportunities later, Figueira ultimately got on the scoresheet and leveled the proceedings in the 44th minute. Didier Brossou assisted the 23-year-old, who buried it into the top left corner.
Clinical Bashundhara Kings pull ahead in the second half against Mohun Bagan SG
With the scores level, the second half was meant to be a thrilling affair, and it started on the right note with the sides exchanging blows. Bashundhara Kings came close to taking the lead in the 51st minute, when Robinho’s long-range effort thumped into the right post.
Meanwhile, the Kolkata giants too came close to pulling ahead when Cummings had the ball in the Bashundhara goal around the 70th-minute mark. But the linesman raised to flag to indicate an offside and give the hosts another lifeline, which they grabbed with open arms.
In the 80th minute, after being set up by Dorielton, Robinho found some wriggling room in the opposition box, took a touch to divert Vishal Kaith between the posts, and hammered the ball into the opposite direction to grab home the three points for the Bangladeshi outfit. Despite their efforts to crawl back into the game, Mohun Bagan had to return home empty-handed.
Next, the Mariners will host fellow ISL club Odisha FC in their penultimate AFC Cup 2023-24 Group D match at Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan on November 27.
