Mohun Bagan 3 (Denson Devadas – 5th, Odafa Okolie – 20th, Stanley Okoroigwe – 61st)
beat
Salgaocar 0
KOLKATA: Mohun Bagan continued the rebuilding work in the right direction as it belittled the might of Salgaocar SC for a convincing 3-0 win in the sixth round of I-League at Kolkata’s Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday.
Denson Devadas opened the floodgates for Mohun Bagan early (5th) before the Nigerian goal poacher Odafa Okolie (20th) doubled the lead to have the home side leading 2-0 at halftime. Stanley Okoroigwe (61st) trebled the lead in the second half to make it the biggest winning margin for Mohun Bagan in the tournament so far.
Having shown its previous coach Santosh Kashyap the door barely four rounds ago, Mohun Bagan under its stand-in coach Mridul Banerjee remained unbeaten ever since and found their third win in four outings. But despite earning such encouraging credentials Banerjee will be relinquishing his position to Moroccan Karim Berncherifa, who is scheduled to start his second innings as the Mohun Bagan coach on
Sunday.
Mohun Bagan made a positive start and found the lead early in the 5th minute when Denson got the final touch into the goal with a header as the ball was relayed to the goalmouth by a series of passing inside the Salgaocar box. Continuing with the momentum Odafa fetched the insurance goal in the 20th minute when he got the better of a physical tussle with Salgaocar’s Brazilian defender Luciano Sabrosa and scored off a spectacular turn.
Salgaocar’s only probable chance came in the 8th minute after the first goal but the visitor failed to find the equaliser as Australian Sean Rooney saw his curling effort coming off the Mohun Bagan upright. There were couple of efforts from substitute Milagres Gonzalves and Francisco Fernandes towards the fag end of the action but none could find the target.
Much unlike their previous showings Mohun Bgan midfield did a fairly good job taking control over the crucial zone. But it was the fine combination on the flank – of right-back Nirmal Chetri and right-winger Syed Rahim Nabi – that helped Bagan dominate Salgaocar.
Despite playing prominently in the team’s offensive, Nabi had a big role in creating the final goal in the 61st minute. The sinewy winger made a midfield interception and chugged into the Salgaocar box before setting up the ball on the goalmouth for Stanley to tap home. Mohun Bagan could well have exacted a bigger margin but for the good work of the Salgaocar custodian Karanjit Singh who saved at least three
attempts – one from Nirmal Chetri and two good efforts from Odafa.
The win hoisted Mohun Bagan into the top half of the standings with 10 points while Salgaocar stayed in the bottom half with 5 points
