Katsumi the sword, Debjit the shield in Bagan's crucial 1-0 victory over Sporting Clube de Goa
A SENSATIONAL, CLIMACTIC GOAL scored by Mohun Bagan skipper Katsumi Yusa saw the Mariners eke out a 1-0 win over Sporting Clube de Goa at Barasat today, to consolidate themselves at the top of the points table halfway into their I-League campaign.
Mohun Bagan dropped Kean Lewis to opt for Brandon Fernandes on the right wing. Pronay Halder, after being rested against Lajong replaced Bikramjit Singh and Raju Gaikwad entered the defense, relegating Sarthak Golui to the bench. Sporting Clube de Goa brought in Densil Theobald and Glan Martins to replace Marcus Masceranhas and Mahmoud Amnah.
The crucial game, where both the teams were going for a win to consolidate their position in the league table, had an evenful start. Ganesh Thakur got kicked in the chest during a Dhanachandra Singh tackle. Nicholas Fernandes made a good clearance off a Sony Norde corner. Loveday Enyinnaya got two harsh tackles on Dhanachandra. Pronay Halder got his early breakfast yellow card with a right-on-the-money tackle on Odafa Okolie.
Bagan's relationship with the woodwork continued with Sony's shot off a Dhanachandra cross hitting the crossbar. Sporting countered, with Odafa getting a tricky shot right on target but Debjit Majumber was alert at goalmouth.
Nicholas Fernandes sent a gem of a ball into the box for Ganesh Thakur but Debjit Majumder jumped in like a cheetah on the hunt to collect the ball before something went wrong. But something almost did go wrong when Luciano Sabrosa blatantly handled the ball and picked up a yellow; but the resulting free-kick yielded nothing.
A blow for the home team came when Brandon Fernandes got a neck injury and had to be substituted around the half hour mark; bringing in Souvik Chakraborty who, in Sanjay Sen's words, was the ideal "bridge" in the midfield.
Then the game ran into a few controversial minutes. First, it was Katsumi Yusa who ran into the Sporting penalty box and got felled by Dharmaraj Ravanan. Ten Souvik Chakraborty got fouled inside the box. Both looked like legitimate cases of penalty-worthy offenses but the referee Umesh Bora immediately waved off both appeals. The whole Bagan bench was on their feet protesting and angry curses flew in from the crowd; the officials got booed off the pitch as half-time came about.
The second half began with the tempo of the contest raised two levels. SCG coach Mateus Costa introduced Rowlin Borges into the game, replacing Densil Theobald. Jeje Lalpekhlua threatened with a run and Loveday brought him down. Then Katsumi Yusa sent a gem of a ball to Cornell Glen who completely failed to judge it; an elementary mistake that forced the coach's hands to immediately replace him with Balwant Singh.
Seriton Fernandes sent in a good cross for Nicholas Fernandes really deep inside the Mohun Bagan box but Raju Gaikwad came to the rescue, clearing it for a corner. Then Sony Norde fed Pronay Halder who tried his luck with a long ranger that Arindam Bhattacharya saved. The clock had run past 70 minutes and a goal did not seem to be forthcoming.
But then it came. It was Katsumi Yusa who fed Sony Norde who fooled defenders with his false moves and sent it in for Jeje, who royally messed up the chance. But luckily, the ball went straight to Katsumi Yusa who was running straight in. He fired it into the net. Relief dawned over the Barasat stadium as the fans celebrated the home club going 1-0 up.
Odafa got a chance to get Sporting back into the game. He got the ball, ran in and sent a bullet of a shot towards goal. But Debjit, who was running ahead to close down the space for Odafa, managed to stop that one too.
The away team got increasingly frustrated seeing their attempts draw blank as the seconds rolled by. Denson Devadas picked up a booking for a rash foul, so did Fulganco Cardozo. Meanwhile, Sony Norde made a good run dribbling past a number of defenders; finally feeding Yusa who couldn't finish the job and get a brace.
But it was enough for Mohun Bagan. The final whistle came in, and the Mariners registered a 1-0 win over the Flaming Oranje. It was the kind of under-pressure, grind-out wins that end up making a lot of difference in the title race. For now, it sent the Green and Maroons to 18 points from 8 matches; a 3 point lead over Bengaluru FC halfway into the season.
Sporting Clube de Goa - who remain 4th on the league table with 11 points from 8 games - did try their best and they created chances too. But they have Debjit Majumder to blame for their misfortune. Like last season, the goalkeeper has put in some stellar shifts for the Mariners, and has collected 4 clean sheets already. He was one of the chief architects behind Bagan's league title last season, and the fans will be hoping for him to keep up his form if they are to sucessfully defend that title; and make good progress in the AFC Cup. This is a performance that Sanjay Sen will take a lot of heart from, before taking on Maziya S&RC from Maldives in the continental tournament on Wednesday.
