The Hindu : Sport : East Bengal posts win

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Wednesday, Sep 12, 2007
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Sport

East Bengal posts win

Vijay Lokapally

Mohun Bagan succumbs to pressure

— Photo: Akhilesh Kumar

MIDFIELD ACTION: Sur Kumar Singh of East Bengal tries to get past Sanjeev Maria and Mohammed Gafari of Mohun Bagan.

LUDHIANA: Showing greater tactical acumen, East Bengal overcame a one-goal deficit to stop Mohun Bagan in its tracks with a 3-2 margin to enter the final of the 29th Hero Cycles Federation Cup at the Guru Nanak Dev Stadium here on Tuesday.

Subrata Bhattacharjee, the East Bengal coach and a wily defender of yesteryear, plotted the conquest of his former club. He obviously had studied the situation adeptly and the substitution that he made in the 16th minute transformed the character of the contest.

Confident start

Bagan had begun on a confident note, calling the shots initially and even taking the lead, but Bhattacharjee had his plans in place. The East Bengal coach, stunned by the 12th minute deficit, pulled out a slack Debabrata Roy and replaced him with Dipendu Biswas, who infused life into the team’s midfield and lent teeth to the attack.

East Bengal was a different outfit, attacking and innovating with the untiring Rahim Nabi at the heart of his team’s fightback. Bagan was without an ailing S. Venkatesh while East Bengal missed Edmilson Marques (muscle tear).

The initial apprehensions gave way to some thrilling football after Bagan forged ahead in the 12th minute. The goal was fashioned by Mohammad Gafari, who found Jose Barreto in an ideal position to score. Barreto saw his shot blocked by goalkeeper Subrata Paul, who had a wonderful match. With defenders Mehrajuddin Wadoo, Majek Bolaji and Soumik Dey crowding him, the alert Baichung Bhutia slotted the loose ball in.

Pressure on Bagan

The goal increased the pace of the match and it was Bagan which failed to cope with the pressure. Nabi was a constant threat but the equaliser came from a sterling move that Jayanta Sen and Dipendu produced in then middle. Near the edge of the box, Dipendu flicked for an overlapping Surkumar Singh to scored from an acute angle in the 25th minute.

Ten minutes later, Mohun Bagan was left stranded by Nabi and Dipendu before the latter finished the move with a clever placement, leaving Rauf Khan, Sanjiv Maria and Suman Dutta helpless. Just before the half time, Gafari shot out from inside the box with Paul out of position.

The trend remained unchanged in the second session and East Bengal increased the margin within two minutes of resumption. Maria lost the ball to Dipendu who set up the ball for Ashim on the right flank. Under pressure, Peter Odafe came a cropper against Ashim, who swung past the defender and left-footed the ball into the corner.

Bagan stepped up the tempo. Suddenly, Bhutia, Barreto and substitutes P. C. Lalawmpuia and Lalkamal Bhowmick came across scoring chances as East Bengal panicked and allowed the rivals greater movements.

Good effort

After some bitter exchanges, Bagan livened up the contest with a 71st minute strike by Barreto. The Brazilian pounded the ball in with a header off a brilliant cross from the left by Bhowmick.

Mohun Bagan’s best chance for the equaliser was wasted by Lalawmpuia six minutes from the end. He tore into the box from the left but shot weakly into the goalkeeper from the edge of the small box. Bhutia then let go a scorching drive but Paul managed to block.

East Bengal was lucky to survive a torrid second half even as a much-improved Bagan mounted relentless raids into the rival half. The last 15 minutes saw East Bengal striving to defending its slender lead.

The results: East Bengal 3 (Surkumar Singh (25th min), Dipendu Biswas (35th), Ashim Biswas (47th)) bt Mohun Bagan (Baichung Bhutia (12th), Barreto (71st).