One Step Away: Santosh Kashyap's Salgaocar stand in the way of Bengaluru's home title clinch

A FEW YEARS AGO, Santosh Kashyap took over at Mohun Bagan amidst high expectations. The former Indian international had cut his teeth into top division coaching at Air India, and coaching the Mariners was going to be his big step-up. 

It didn't go well. The team didn't do well. The fans didn't like him from the get go and neither did the officials. He was removed 5 games into his tenure.

It's somewhat ironic that almost 4 years later, the Mohun Bagan fans are now looking at Santosh Kashyap to pull off a miracle to keep Mohun Bagan in the title race.

Since those fateful days Kashyap has coached in ONGC and Rangdajied United, finally making his name with a fantastic season at Royal Wahingdoh. And what he has done at Salgaocar this season isn't anything short of a miracle either. Taking over at a time when repeated defeats had set them firmly on a course to relegation, he turned things around and thanks to a 5 game unbeaten run the decorated club has arrived at a place where a threat of relegation is practically absent. 

But going up against Bengaluru FC at Kanteerava - widely regarded as the toughest thing to do in Indian football - Kashyap and Salgaocar have arrived at a place where they can have a lasting impact at the title race. If they lose, Bengaluru FC win the league. But if they win or draw, it sets up the match between Mohun Bagan and Bengaluru FC on 23rd April as a title decider, just like last season.

While it can be taken for granted that this task is going to be monumentally hard, but the months of build-up to this match has made it even more so.

Ashley Westwood, the Bengaluru FC coach, has obviously not forgotten what happened on this very arena on 31st May last year. Minutes away from back-to-back league titles, the Blues conceded a goal that let their opponents, Mohun Bagan, take away the title from their on their own home ground. The players and the fans felt the sting too, and they are desperate not to let the league get to a last-day finisher against Mohun Bagan again.

Which is why Westwood rested several first team players, including Eugeneson Lyngdoh, Sunil Chhetri and all four foreigners, choosing to field a young side in Wednesday's AFC Cup home game against Ayeyawadi United. The idea was to field a full-strength, well-rested squad agaisnt Salgaocar in order to secure this title at their own home ground and bury the ghost of the 2014-15 season. The fiery performance put in by the young team, resulting in a 5-3 win that rejuvenated their Asian campaign, has further envigorated the Blues. Everything seems to be falling into place, and tonight they will have the best possible chance to claim the league for themselves.

Further enhancing Bengaluru's chances will be the fact that Salgaocar's main man up front, Darryl Duffy, will be absent from action tonight. The Scotsman, who has scored 11 of the 19 goals Salgaocar have put together this season, picked up an utterly needless yellow card in the match against Aizawl FC after scoring that one goal that nearly sealed their escape from relegation. 

Although Santosh Kashyap was eager to play down Duffy's absence in the pre-match presser saying they beat East Bengal without him, playing Bengaluru is going to be a different cup of tea and he knows it. East Bengal remained in the title race this long thanks to a lot of luck; defensive issues have been plaguing them throughout this season. But Bengaluru's back four right now is more solid that any other time this season. At a time like this, if the Blues take the lead, it will be nearly impossible for Salgaocar to get a goal back without their main striker. 

So if they are to take a point out of this game, Salgaocar may have to adopt a defense-heavy approach. But against the skilled and agile attack of Bengaluru a defensive strategy almost never works. Very few clubs have managed to get a clean sheet out of Kanteerava this season.

So tonight it's definitely advantage Bengaluru. Simply because, it's them who will come into this match with an initiative, with the home support, with rested players who remember what it was like last season. And they positively detest the idea of having to play Mohun Bagan away to win the league. 

Meanwhile, Salgaocar have more or less done their job by avoiding relegation. They are not coming into this game with any extra motivation. Unless Santosh Kashyap and his players like the idea of being the ones that turn the title race chaotic again, setting the season up for yet another unnerving climax.