New Delhi: Mohun Bagan's winning run continues in the I-League as they registered their seventh straight win by beating Mumbai FC in a 12th round I-League clash at the Cooperage Stadium, Mumbai.
The Kolkata team's three strikers – Bhaichung Bhutia, Jose Barreto and Lalwampuia were on target as they closed up gap at the top of the table to a single point. League leaders Sporting Clube De Goa have 25 points and a game in hand. Mumbai FC continues to remain on the fourth spot with 19 points.
Mumbai FC made just one change from the team which started against Mohammedan Sporting earlier this week by including AbhishekYadav for Aseem K. Mohun Bagan had Lal Kamal Bhowmick in the middle of the park to fill in for the suspended Rakesh Masih.
The first chance came in the seventh minute as Marcos Pereira's free-kick from the left saw Selwyn Fernandes misjudge which allowed Jose Barreto to head it for Bhaichung whose bicycle kick went straight into the hands of Mumbai FC custodian Amit Singha Roy. The play in the first half was primarily in restricted to the backlines clearing the ball only for the opposition to gain possession.
Mumbai FC did feel the absence of Kalyan Chaubey as the inexperienced custodian would often came out of his line and miss the ball altogether. The 17th minute saw Lal Kamal Bhowmick take a short corner which was headed by Marcos at the far post but was cleared in time by the Mumbai FC defenders after goalkeeper Amit Singha Roy was beaten.
Around the half hour mark, Ishfaq Ahmed's brilliant eye for passes released Habibur on the right but his final shot wasn't worth mentioning. Mumbai FC's first real threat came in the 38th minute when Subhash Chakraborty got the better of Habibur Rahman and his cross was met by Abel Hammond but didn't produce the desired result.
In the 42nd minute, Jose Barreto's cross from the right saw Bhaichung's header miss the far post. It was the home side which started better when a good move involving Felix Aboagye, Kulothungan resulted in Subhash wasting the opportunity.
Just four minutes into the second session and Felix's shot from inside the box was saved by Bagan custodian Sangram Mukherjee only to concede a corner. At the hour mark, Abhishek Yadav handled the ball and Lal Kamal's free-kick was cleared in time by the former only for the rebound to fall for Barreto. Under pressure from Mumbai FC defenders, the Brazilian shot it wide.
Kamaljeet's corner-kick in the 65th minute saw Abel Hammond's header at the near post miss the target. Mohun Bagan, at last, managed to breakthrough Mumbai FC's resistance in the 73rd minute in a move which involved the Big B's of Kolkata.
Kamaljeet Kumar and Selwyn Fernandes came to clear the same ball when Jose Barreto turned it over them The latter of the two defenders did try to close Barreto thereafter, but he released the ball to James Singh whose fist time cross was well anticipated by Bhaichung who did enough wit his side volley.
Mumbai FC coach David Booth made two substitutions by brining in Aseem K and Jagdish Pappiah in quick succession to change the course of the game. Aseem almost created an opening when he beat Habibur but couldn't find an unmarked Kulothungan inside the box.
Before Mumbai FC could recover from the jolt, Bagan added another through Jose Barreto whose showed great ball control and sprinted at the right moment to put the ball past Amit Singha Roy. Lalwampuia added his name on the scoresheet in the final minute as Marcos Pereira's through ball was ably slotted in by the North-Eastern striker.
The match ended with the same scoreline and thereby have put Mohun Bagan in a strong position for the title challenge.
Goalscorers Bagan: Bhaichung Bhutia (67th min), Jose Barreto (81st min) and Lalwampuia (90th min)
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