Six past heartbreak: Mohun Bagan end their ACL journey with embarrassing defeat in China
MOHUN BAGAN were like a fish out of water against Shandong Luneng who put 6 goals past the I-League champions in the second-round knockout encounter in the AFC Champions League qualifiers.
The match saw quite a good turnout with the home fans turning out in numbers dressed in their traditional orange but a handful of Mohun Bagan fans, armed with a green and maroon banner, were also present at the stadium to cheer for the Mariners.
Sanjay Sen had fielded as strong a side as he could against the mighty Shandong Luneng. He had Debjit Majumder in goal, Raju Gaikwad back in defence, Luciano Sabrosa holding the fort on the right and Kingshuk Debnath on the left. He played a variation on his usual strategy by pushing Katsumi Yusa to the middle, using Souvik Chakraborty on the right flank instead and fielding Prabir Das up front next to Jeje Lalpekhlua. Cornell Glen, of course, missed the trip because of visa issues. The absence of the veteran world cupper at the helm was always going to cost the Mariners.
Shandong Luneng brought out their big guns too. They had Gil, Diego Tardelli, Montillo and Jucilei in their starting line-up. Wang Dalei was at goal and Yang Xu up front with Hao Junmin to supply the balls from the left.
The game began in a slow, measured fashion. This was the first game of the season for Shandong Luneng so they chose to hang back and assess their opponents. There was a light-hearted gaffe as well: the ball they were playing with got punctured and the game had to stop to replace it.
As expected, it was the Orange Fighters who were doing most of the attacking. They had an early corner, followed by a well-placed free kick due to a foul on striker Montillo. Then Yang Hao Junmin got a ball inside the penalty box that he headed wide.
Mohun Bagan soon realised that they were not going to be able to cope with their opponents' running. They resorted to keeping as much of the ball as possible, passing it around in safe areas and looking for a gap to capitalize on. Their opponents were happy to let that go on for a while and defend. But whenever they got the ball the pace of the game changed. It would be a striking-paced run from them and the entire Bagan squad sans Jeje would run back to defend. It was a nervy game that lacked balance and inevitably, the Chinese club soon got their moment.
Yang Xu delivered the ball to the Argentinian Walter Montillo who made a quick turn just outside the box and sent in a blinder towards the goal. The pace took Bagan goalie Debjit by surprise and his dive was well short. The ball rammed onto the crossbar, hitting it low, and the deflection sent it bouncing hard onto the grass, inside the goal. Shandong Luneng Taishan were 1-0 up.
GIF: @Montil10 wonderful goal. pic.twitter.com/dvurlIb5dh
— Shandong LunengTS FC (@sdlnts1993) February 2, 2016
More of the same followed over the next few minutes as Mohun Bagan were concentrated on defending. The home team players were finding their touch and switching to a more aggressive posture, more confident of their ability to defend against the Bagan attacks.
38 minutes into the game they almost paid for it. Sony Norde got the ball deep inside the half and managed to move forward, dribbling past a number of orange shirts with Katsumi backing him up on the left flank. He found some space right next to the penalty box and let fly towards the goal. The keeper was almost beaten but the shot was just wide of the target. The scoreline remained 1-0.
Then Shandong Luneng struck again. A pass from deep in the right flank sent by Yangpo Wang found Diego Tardelli bang in the middle of the Bagan box. He turned hard, shaking off two defenders and took the shot towards goal with his left foot. It went straight in. It was 2-0 to Shandong Luneng and that's how it stayed till the end of the first half.
GIF: @tardelli9 a strong goal. pic.twitter.com/pji6Qgtyrr
— Shandong LunengTS FC (@sdlnts1993) February 2, 2016
Mohun Bagan made a good attack at the start of the second half. A long ranger from Jeje Lalpekhlua went straight to the hands of the keeper. The home team replied with a good move up the middle, where a short pass saw the Bagan defence beaten and a midfielder got a clear shot at the goal that went wide.
But score they did, in quite an emphatic fashion. When a shot from the middle was cleared by a Bagan defender they took the ball wide to the right, with Diego Tardelli sending in a sweet ball to Yang Xu who had tons of space in front of him, inside the box. He took the shot and the ball went in. 3-0.
GIF: Yang Xu copy Montillo's goal, assist by Tardelli. pic.twitter.com/pWNSLLsQ7D
— Shandong LunengTS FC (@sdlnts1993) February 2, 2016
But when the game resumed Sony Norde came dangerously close as he positioned himself well in front of the goal, holding off a defender, and he let fly with his left foot, but the ball went just wide.
The flow of the game, however, remained unerturbed. Attack after attack came is as Shandong Luneng ruled two-thirds of the pitch at will. A Diego Tardelli left footer came dangerously close but went just wide.
Kean Lewis was brought on to replace Prabir Das. His first few minutes were spent mostly deep inside the Bagan half but when he got the chance he moved forward and made a long way into the opponent half but got dispossessed.
Then Shandong scored their fourth. It was Zhao Mingjian who got the ball directly at the Bagan goalmouth, took the shot but in an incredible reflex-save Debjit Majumder kept it out. The ball went straight to an onrushing Pronay Halder whose instinctive clearance attempt found the crossbar and came right back into the pitch. It went straight to Yang Xu who was waiting. The keeper was on the ground and the goal was open. The striker tapped it in. 4-0.
It wasn't long before the fifth goal went in either, from a shot that Zheng Zheng sent striaght in. Now down by 5 goals, it became an excercise for Mohun Bagan to see out the remaining 15 minutes with minimal damage.
But fortune was going to sting them one last time. 87 minutes in, Binbin Liu ran up the flank with the ball, a couple of defenders tailing him, while Yongpo Wang positioned himself in the middle for the pass. It came at the right time and Wang sent it in on his first touch. It was half a dozen on the board, and a convincing victory for Shandong Luneng was sealed.
GIF: Wang Yongpo scored a very fantastic goal！ pic.twitter.com/pTgl3qpIwh
— Shandong LunengTS FC (@sdlnts1993) February 2, 2016
Fielding a tired squad, in freezing environments, against a team far superior in sheer quality really caught the Mariners out of depth. They conceded 6 goals and throughout all this their opponents looked completely relaxed and not in any kind of rush. It was essentially a good warm-up outing for Shandong Luneng before their season begins in earnest. And for Mohun Bagan as well as Indian football in general, it was a reminder of the sea of difference that exists between themselves and the more developed footballing nations in Asia.
It's a blow for Bagan, no doubt. Hardly anybody expected them to win this but losing 6-0 is always heavy on the morale. And to make matters worse, they will have little time to recover. On Saturday they face Shillong Lajong at home, followed by two tough games away to Mumbai and Bengaluru. All that the Mohun Bagan fans will hope for is that the break in momentum they suffered in Asia does not spill over to the I-League, and that their club is more prepared when they start their journey in the group stage of the AFC Cup in March.
