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ATK Mohun Bagan do a Derby double over East Bengal FC to seal third place
By Antara Tripathy, Photo By Suman Munshi
Kolkata, February 25: No doubt Kolkata had the golden of Indian Football History and now it is only history and in the archive of memories of good old days. The damage to the maidan football and Bengals football future has been done and it’s irrecoverable damage to the Mecca of Indian Football by her political masters. East Bengal Vs Mohun Bagan once upon a time the name itself was the assurance for the full house. This last Derby saw almost one-third of the house and even in the press box. The management of these clubs must be scraped and fresh footballers, not the political master’s nominations should be allowed in club affairs. Late Dhiren Dey or Jatish Guha like legends may not be there but surely we can bring back some respect to Bengal Football by removing non-player factors from the management of the clubs.
East Bengal’s derby defeat is not just due to sports equations and sports on the ground but of the ground, maths are much more prevalent in today’s match. See just 20 mins before the match, how many people are there in the stadium? Can anyone of the true Fans not from the political mindset, justify this fate for a Derby? Even the press box did not have the desired numbers like on other days or people left well before the Games ended.
In such a low-key derby ATK Mohun Bagan produced a dominant 2-0 win against East Bengal FC at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan on Saturday to keep up their unbeaten Kolkata Derby record in the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) and confirm a third-placed finish in their final league game of the season.
It was ATKMB who were ahead for much of the first half. The opening five minutes involved a lot of attacking moves on their part, although none resulted in any substantial scoring opportunities. Pritam Kotal came closest when a ball was chipped to him at the far post after a corner, but the defender sent his volley over the bar.
East Bengal FC’s first shot on goal was a long-range effort from Suhair VP that Vishal Kaith gathered with ease. Most of the Torch Bearers’ forward moves were limited to counterattacking ones as ATKMB kept control of the possession. By the middle of the first half, there were pacey crosses in either direction, with robust challenges also coming into the fray which would result in three yellow cards before the half-time whistle.
The second half began similarly to the first, and Petratos was given space to break the deadlock just as the packed spectators held up their flashlights in the 52nd minute. Ashique Kuruniyan slid the striker through on the left side of the box and he took a moment before striking across the face of the goal with his left foot, only to hit the upright.
But ATKMB would eventually get into the lead. After a series of back-to-back corners that East Bengal FC was able to stave away, center-back Slavko Damjanovic managed to put the Mariners in front in the 68th minute. The corner was aimed at Manvir Singh at the near post, whose clever flick bounced over the defensive wall and toward Damjanovic’s head. The defender’s glance bounced off the upright before he helped into the goal as it trickled back towards him.
The match continued to keep its high pace, but once again, neither team was presented with anything more than half-chances. Kuruniyan’s trickery down the left allowed him to cut in at one point, but his right-footed effort was fired over the goal. On the other end, East Bengal FC were industrious, but were unable to break into the box with regularity.
Their commitment to the equalizer eventually meant two big chances in the span of seconds for ATKMB, and Petratos was on hand to seal the Derby for them. Substitute Kiyan Nassiri was played through in front of the goal, but Kamaljit parried his shot; unfortunately for the goalkeeper, it fell straight into Petratos’ path and the striker tapped it in to seal a third place for ATKMB. Their standings mean ATKMB will stay in Kolkata for their first playoff fixture. The loss for East Bengal FC meant they finished the season in 10th place.
Key stats:
– Boumous was ATKMB’s engine in midfield, completing 85% of his passes
– East Bengal FC’s primary creator, Mahesh Singh, was limited to just 1 cross
– Kaith was forced to make only one save in the game
Stat Pack:
Standing:
