ISL: Mohun Bagan SG pips East Bengal, Mohammedan SC beats BFC – Talking points

Kolkata’s Mohun Bagan SG and Mohammedan Sporting registered identical 1-0 wins over East Bengal and Bengaluru FC in Saturday’s ISL games in Guwahati and Bengaluru, respectively.

With this win, Mohun Bagan went eight points clear of Bengaluru FC on the top of the points table, while East Bengal languishes at the 11th spot with 14 points from 15 games.

Key talking points from both the matches:

Maclaren’s fastest goal in derby in ISL

Mohun Bagan Super Giant stretched their dominance in the Kolkata Derby with a 1-0 win over East Bengal FC after Jamie Maclaren scored the fastest goal of the Kolkata Derby in ISL.

It was enough for the reigning champions to see out their arch-rivals, whilst going eight points clear (35) at the top of the table, compared to the second-placed Bengaluru FC (27).

The Mariners have now won nine times and drawn once in their 10 Kolkata Derby clashes against East Bengal FC in the ISL.

East Bengal denied a possible penalty

In the injury time of the first half, PV Vishnu's shot in the box hit the hand of Apuia when he tried to go for a kick towards the goal. But the referee Venkatesh R turned a blind eye to that and said to play on much to the disappointment of East Bengal.

Souvik Chakrabarti sent off

Things took a drastic turn in the 64th minute when Souvik Chakrabarti brought down Liston Colaco near the penalty area, only to receive his second yellow card followed by subsequent marching orders.

With one goal down, East Bengal FC were now chasing the game with 10 men. As a retaliation, Bruzon brought on Naorem Mahesh Singh in place of David Lalhlansanga with the hope of solidifying the midfield.

Chances wasted by Bengaluru FC

Bengaluru FC got several chances to score. But it failed to convert the chances in the attacking third. Alberto Noguera and Jorge Pereyra Diaz were the men who initiated the attacks most of the time.

With Mohammedan Sporting’s defence staying alert, the Blues failed to break the deadlock.

Diaz and Noguera joined hands just before the 70th-minute mark to breach the Mohammedan SC’s defensive third. Noguera supplied a straightforward pass that the striker couldn’t bury inside the net, with a vigilant Mohammedan SC backline collectively ensuring that it was blocked beforehand.

Mohammedan Sporting registers 2nd win of the season

Mohammedan SC’s moment of glory came in the 88th minute, courtesy of an individual moment of brilliance by Mirjalol Kasimov. Franca’s relentlessness upfront paid off with him making the visitors earn a free-kick in the attacking half.

Kasimov stepped up for the duties, producing a peach of an effort with his right foot to rattle the top left corner to break the deadlock.

With this 1-0 win, Mohammedan Sporting registered their second victory of the current season.