Mohun Bagan sweeps Diamond Harbour into Durand's last eight with a 5-goal tsunami.
Mohun Bagan 5(Aniruddha, McLaren, Liston-Penalty,Sahal,Cummings) Diamond Harbour 1(Luka)
Sanchita Chatterjee,BSNewsAgency, Kolkata: Why Mohun Bagan Super Giants are the big team, ISL Shield and Cup champions and Diamond Harbour is still a small team, was proven in the last group match of the Durand Cup at Yuva Bharati on Saturday. With a hat-trick of victory, Mohun Bagan SG's Molina Brigade defeated Diamond Harbour 5-1 by a tsunami of attacks and reached the quarterfinals of the Durand Cup with a smile from the top of the group with 9 points. On the other hand, Diamond Harbour came under pressure, finishing the group with 6 points, conceding 5 goals in the goal difference. Now, it has become quite difficult for Diamond to reach the last eight by finishing second in all the remaining group matches.
Mohun Bagan Super Giant coach Jose Molina explained why he is so successful today with his team selection and strategy against Diamond Harbour. Although the Bagan team has several injuries and card problems, especially in the defense, Molina was not seen thinking too much about them before the match. Instead, he showed how to solve the problems. By pairing Tom Aldred with Deepak Tangri at stopper, placing Ashish and Abhishek at the two sidebacks, and playing Apuya as a defensive blocker up front, the Bagan head coach did the job of solidifying the defense. He did not have to think about the rest of the team. Because he kept the same team from last year. Mohun Bagan had no problem in attacking Diamond Harbour like an oil-eating machine and feeding them a lot of food.
There, Diamond Harbour coach Kibu Vicuna, who was picked in the main stage of the I-League, must have understood that his team is not yet ready to face the ISL team. Since the opponents were not of that quality in Durand's last 2 matches, the real test of Diamond was not done. The lack of understanding in defense was especially clear. Foreign defender Cortazar is not fit at all. Whether Diamond's campaign in Durand is over, we will have to wait for the results of the other group matches. But whatever it is, Kibu will have to think about the team again before entering the I-League competition.
In the 15th minute, only Diamond goalkeeper Susnat Malik was in front inside the box and the green maroon goalie Jamie McLaren tried to push the ball into the goal through his legs. But Susnat gathered his legs and blocked the ball with his hands. However, the Bagan Brigade did not have to wait long for the goal. Taking advantage of the shaky defense of Diamond, Aniruddha Thapa gave the green maroons the lead in the 19th minute. Sahal received the ball from Liston just outside the box and gently extended it to Thapa. Thapa intelligently took a high shot, which went past goalkeeper Susnath's hand and into the net.
It seemed that Mohun Bagan would press Diamond even more. They would increase the goal. It was the opposite. They forgot that the opposing team had an experienced striker like Luka Majsen. They brought danger to themselves by trying to trap offside in the 24th minute. When Diamond's job extended a through ball in front, the entire Bagan defense stood still, thinking it was offside. Especially Deepak Tangri was raising his hand to the linesman and demanding offside. But the referee or the assistant referee standing on the line did not pay attention to it. As a result, Diamond's Luka chased the ball from behind and caught it. There was a lot of empty space in front. Luka reached the barrier in front of the box and calmly pushed the ball past Bagan goalkeeper Vishal to equalize.
But Diamond again sank due to their own defensive mistakes. It is worth mentioning that Lalan Sangha's personal mistake cost them the second goal in the 35th minute. Lalan Sangha lost the ball at his feet in Diamond's midfield when Sahal chased it. Sahal did not delay in catching the ball and passing it forward. McLaren, the highest scorer in Australian club football, was on the prowl like a hunting cheetah. McLaren made no mistake in beating goalkeeper Susnath with the ball. McLaren's magic began by scoring a goal after entering the field for the first time in the season.
After the break, Molina, as planned, lifted McLaren and took down Cummings. The attack did not decrease at all. Instead, the referee showed Diamond Naresh Singh a red card and awarded a penalty in favor of Bagan in the 51st minute for pulling Liston from behind after he got the ball in the box, which caused the referee to show him a red card. Liston scored his 5th goal from the penalty spot in the 52nd minute (3-1). After this goal, Diamond's defense collapsed. Mohun Bagan, who was playing with 10 men for over 40 minutes, was unable to stop Diamond. As a result, Cummings, who had just set foot in Kolkata, also caught the ball in the 65th minute and passed the opposing players and put a goal in front of the goal, which Sahal pushed into the goal (4-1). Cummings put the final nail in Diamond's coffin in the 80th minute. He scored with a shot from Ashish Rai's pass (5-1).