Night of pain, error and despair at Fatorda as Sporting and Bagan play out a frustrating draw

DEFENDING CHAMPIONS Mohun Bagan seemed to have lost their shine when they took on Sporting Clube de Goa at the Fatorda Stadium, and had to settle for a 1-1 draw in this crucial away fixture.

Mateus Costa beefed up his defense and midfield by bringing Subhashish Bose, Joseph Clemente, Glan Martins and Rowlin Borges back into the starting line-up. Sanjay Sen stuck with most of the team that beat Salgaocar over the weekend, with the exception of Luciano Sabrosa making a comeback in the Bagan defense with the mission to mark Odafa. 

Yet a shakiness surrounding the defending champions' back four was exposed early on when none other than Odafa got the first big screaming chance of the game. It was Rowlin Borges with the precious pass into the Bagan penalty box that caught a charging Debjit Majumder entirely out of position. Odafa had the ball and the net was there for him to find, but the ball took a deflection off a defender's foot and went out. Odafa looked to the skies in despair. 

Cornell Glen led the attack for Bagan. He ran up the middle and passed to Brandon Fernandes on the right who took the shot but a defender cleared it. Glen got a chance again when he got the ball inside Sporting box; but Loveday was there to deflect it away. 

And then the visitors got the break-through they wanted. Sony Norde made his way deep past two defenders and sent in a sweet cross for Brandon Fernandes who was waiting at goalmouth to tap it in. It was 1-0 to Mohun Bagan; and the former Sporting Clube de Goa player did not celebrate his first goal of the season out of respect for his old club. 

But Brandon's game came to an early end when he picked up an injury on the left knee only minutes later. The youngster was writhing with pain as he was taken off and replaced by Pronay Halder; this injury can turn out to be a long term concern for him and Bagan.

And soon enough the home team had found an equalizer. It was Victorino Fernandes with the cross that came in for Nicholas Fernandes who gave it a try, but it was the unfortunate Raju Gaikwad who once again ended up knocking it into his own post for the second time in less than two weeks. It was 1-1, and Sporting Clube de Goa had found some much needed oxygen to fight to get something out of this game. 

And they almost got a second as well. Around the 40 minute mark a well-placed corner kick came straight to Odafa inside the Bagan box and he could not kick it in despite having enough space for himself. The Nigerian striker banged his fists on the ground in despair, and the scoreline remained 1-1 at half-time.

Early in the second period Norde sent a great ball to Glen who did well to get past Loveday and take a shot but found keeper Arindam Bhattacharya. Then Odafa swung into action on the other end when Nicholas found him with a cross. Odafa let fly but Debjit Majumder pulled off a swift and crucial save.

The game continued, back and forth, with most of the chances dying on the outer edges of the final third. It seemed like both sets of defenders were overcoming the opponent midfielders, and the Mariners had lost much of the smooth movement that has served them so well throughout this season. 

Sporting came close again, via a counter-attack that saw Victorino Fernandes take a shot but Debjit saved it again. Katsumi Yusa got the ball at scoring range and took a crack but his shot went just outside the post. 

As the game entered added time, Odafa had one last opportunity to score a goal against his former club this season. He got the ball inside the box, turned quickly, but before he could shoot Kinshuk Debnath came in to block him. The opportunity was lost, but the game was not. The match ended 1-1, and the home team players didn't seem to be too disappointed compared to the angry, stony face of Bagan coach Sanjay Sen.

Both Kolkata clubs have dropped points at Goa today. That makes the title race a lot tighter. Mohun Bagan, now on 22 points from 10 matches, are on the verge of being caught up by Bengaluru FC, who are on 18 points from 9 games. Although the defending champions remain unbeaten, they have once again entered a nervy territory where one draw can see them fall behind their title race rivals.

But Sporting Clube de Goa, still fourth with 13 points from 10 games, would be happy to have gotten a point out of a team that beat them in the reverse fixture only 10 days ago. Mateus Costa's boys have lost only 1 out of their last 6 games, and produced some memorable results and proved themselves to be a respectable squad that can take on the strongest in the league.