I-League 2017-18 MATCH REPORT -- Myths come to life as Mohun Bagan claim pulsating Kolkata Derby victory

THEY SAY, YOU'RE NEVER TOO OLD for surprises.

They also say, when it comes to the Kolkata Derby, form goes straight out of the window.

They say so many things. Much of it is considered bookish wisdom, and some of it is borderline superstition. For a match with a 100 year history, one can expect some folklore like this.

But the way all the proverbs came to life during today's crucial I-League encounter between the evergreen arch rivals East Bengal and Mohun Bagan left everyone surprised. 

An hour before the game, a bunch of Mohun Bagan fans were ready near the gates with masks of their star winger, Sony Norde. Norde has been ruled out for the rest of the season and the fans wanted to pay a tribute to him. But the number of fans that were turning up was leaving them disappointed. The Green and Maroons were turning up slowly, in lesser numbers than their Red and Gold counterparts, almost dreading the occasion. East Bengal were chasing the title, and Mohun Bagan had fallen out of the leading pack. On top of it, they were missing some crucial players due to injury and their strikers were decidedly out of form. East Bengal were considered favourites in this game, and it showed in the way trucks draped in red and gold turned up in high numbers up the EM Bypass.

But when the match finally got underway, it opened with a shock. Nikhil Kadam went up the right, sent a cross to Mohun Bagan's new foreigner Akram Moghrabi, who headed it down towards Dipanda Dicka. Dicka, who had earned a bad reputation this season for not being able to finish, had some space to himself and he unitilsed it by calmly burying the ball at the back of the net. 

A goal 55 seconds into the game. In a Kolkata Derby. The stands exploded. Mohun Bagan had taken the lead. It was the second fastest goal ever to be scored in the history of the Derby; the fastest being a fabled 17 second goal by Akbar in 1976, also in fabour of Mohun Bagan. But those stories did not matter. The history did not matter. What mattered was that Dicka had redeemed himself in the eyes of the fans, and Mohun Bagan now had golden opportunity to go for a win that seemed like a far off possibility just moments ago.

And moments later, East Bengal's chief playmaker Mahmoud Al-Amnah picked up an injury and had to be replaced. This was a major blow, and potentially the turning point of the match.

East Bengal were still making attacks. About half a dozen good passes found their way to Plaza, who kept missing and getting dispossessed. The game became physical very early too, with Kingshuk Debnath and Armand (who had replaced Amnah) getting booked in the first 20 minutes; one yellow to each team.

Then East Bengal put some major pressure on Mohun Bagan with back to back set pieces. Katsumi took both, and the second corner was headed into the net by Plaza but the ball had already gone out of play in the air so the goal was disallowed. In the second half, Katsumi would waste another crucial corner in the exact same fashion.

And then, 35 minutes into the game, came one of the goals of the season.

Raynier Fernandes delivered a corner kick for Mohun Bagan. The East Bengal defence had marked Kingsley and Akram well but Dicka, who socred the first goal of the match, was somehow in some space. He took it on a bicycle volley that went into the net like a bullet. Mohun Bagan doubled their lead.

At half time, Katsumi Yusa tried to cheer up his teammates. Khalid Jamil put in an extra midfielder by replacing Arnab Mondal with Kevin Lobo. East Bengal once again spent a significant time exerting pressure on their opponents but it didn't come to much. In fact, Mohun Bagan were creating the better chances, and but for some easy misses by Akram Moghrabi and Nikhil Kadam they could have scored four or five.

But the scoreline remained the same. Mohun Bagan registered a double in the Kolkata Derby for this I-League season and got back into the top four of the points table. East Bengal lost their second match of the season, and are now winless in three matches. With 19 points from 11 games, they have falled significantly behind Minerva Punjab and NEROCA.

In this high pressure game witnessed by a "small" crowd of 52,900, previous form went out of the window, and an unlikely hero emerged in Dipanda Dicka. But what will give the Marienrs more strength as they fly off to Aizawl for yet another crucial game is the way Indian players like Faiaz, Raynier Fernandes and others gave their all for the entire game, outplaying a team that was better than them on paper. 

East Bengal are now in backfoot. Their dreams of winning the top division league for the first time in 14 years is in jeopardy. They still have a chance to win the league if they manage to beat Minerva Punjab twice; but to do so they will have to tear down yet another iron clad folklore surrounding Kolkata Derby - neither club has ever managed to win the I-League after losing the Derby.