Ratings: Cummings shines as Mohun Bagan edge past Maziya

Mohun Bagan have now won nine matches in a row across all competitions (senior team).

Mohun Bagan Super Giant (MBSG) picked up a 2-1 win in their second game of the AFC Cup 2023-24 group stages against Maziya S&RC at the Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata on Monday (2 October). The Mariners took the lead in the 28th minute, thanks to an impressive goal from Jason Cummings.

They had a big chance to double their lead in the 40th minute, but a comical mistake from Cummings and Dimitri Petratos in a penalty attempt - where they failed to replicate the Lionel Messi-Luis Suaurez 'pass penalty' attempt - nearly cost them dearly. Tomoki Wada scored a brilliant equalizer in the 45th minute to bring Maziya back into the game.

The visitors held Bagan on for nearly the entirety of the second half, but Jason Cummings scored a clutch winner in the 92nd minute to help his side get a thrilling win and go atop of their group. Here are the player ratings for the game.

Mohun Bagan (by Uttiyo Sarkar)

Vishal Kaith – 6.0

Kaith had little chance of saving Wada’s thunderous strike. Made a few decent saves and his distribution work was nice.

Anwar Ali – 6.0

Anwar was surprisingly error-prone at times, but was mostly quite solid at the back and reliable with his passing.

Hector Yuste – 7.0

Yuste was arguably his side’s most commanding and reliable defender, marking the opposition forwards well. Made a few clutch challenges and stuck together a decent defensive line.

Brendan Hamill – 5.5

The Mohun Bagan captain started the game well with a clutch goal-saving block in the first half. But lacked concentration at times, allowing opposition players to go past him and getting booked in silly fashion in the second half.

Asish Rai – 5.5

Rai wasn’t that efficient going forward, as he failed to create anything major. A bit sloppy defensively too, and was taken off soon after the break.

Glan Martins – 6.0

Martins wandered just above the backline and was quite good with his pressing. However, he failed to stop a few of Maziya’s moves and was slightly out of position for their equalizer. Had little attacking influence but created a decent chance for Manvir Singh in the second half.

Hugo Boumous – 7.0

Boumous was proactive in possession, moving the ball forward efficiently. Assisted the opener with a nice pass to Cummings. Created a few nice chances, but was unable to add any goal-scoring threat.

Liston Colaco – 6.0

Liston was a real hot n’ cold figure on the left. Showed signs of indecisiveness, failing to make the necessary passes after nice runs. Tested the keeper with a few nice attempts and created some pretty decent chances, but couldn’t find that special something in the final third.

Dimitri Petratos – 4.0

Petratos had a frustrating outing, neither being able to create much nor having a scoring threat. To make things worse, he was involved in that awful penalty attempt that summed up his disappointing outing.

Armando Sadiku – 6.5

Sadiku wasn’t the flashiest player, but worked hard with his movement and pressing work. Moved the ball forward well and won his side the penalty smartly. He made a few nice passes to build up moves after that but couldn’t come close to scoring.

Jason Cummings – 8.0

Cummings moved all around the frontline to destabilize Maziya’s backline and scored a superb goal with a powerful shot past the keeper. Then made a comical error for the penalty, horribly scuffing his cheeky attempt to tee up Petratos. But ended up making up for his error with an instinctive finish to win his side the game.  

Substitutes

Manvir Singh – 6.5

Manvir added a lot of threat through the right after coming on. He tested the goalkeeper with some emphatic efforts and set up a few nice chances too.

Sahal Abdul Samad – 7.0

Sahal troubled Maziya with his smart movement in behind defenders and even created a nice chance after coming on, but nobody pounced on it. However, he did find Cummings perfectly for his winner in added time.

Subhasish Bose – 6.0

Subhasish added more security to his side’s backline after coming on, ensuring that the opposition didn’t score more. Played a role in the winner too.

Anirudh Thapa – N/R

The midfielder improved his side’s energy levels and moved the ball forward quickly, but failed to create anything major.

Maziya S&RC (By Analoy Majumder)

Hussain Shareef - 8.5

Against the Green & Maroon Army, Hussain Shareef was in incredible form. Looked confident under the post at the start. Hussain made many crucial stops and vital collections and denied Cummings, Petratos and Manvir Singh 2-3 times from scoring.

Khalil Gamal Elbezawy - 7.0

Elbezawy played well in defence today. He outwitted the MBSG attackers many times, and made a couple of crucial tackles and important interceptions in the defensive third.

Hassan Shifaz - 7.0

With effective tackles and significant interceptions today, Shifaz showed a great deal of faith in the defensive line while playing alongside Khalil and Antic.

Sebastijan Antic - 7.0

Antic made three crucial blocks in front of goal to prevent the Mohun Bagan forwards from scoring. He also made a couple of good interceptions, timely tackles, and gave the MBSG forwards little room.

Tomoki Wada - 7.5

Tomoki made a few good runs with the ball and helped the defence in holding the MBSG attackers. Wada scored an unbelievable screamer in the 45th minute, providing Maziya with the much-needed equaliser. Was later taken off in the second half.

Regan Obeng - 6.5

Made a couple of unnecessary challenges and conceded a yellow card in the first half. Did well in the middle and won a few ground duels, but was not much effective offensively.

Aisam Ibrahim - 7.0

Aisam tried to put together a strong combination between the midfielders and forwards. He also made three key passes into the box, but his teammates failed to take advantage of them.

Branimir Jocic - 7.0

Jocic created fruitful attacking opportunities for his team. Showed superb midfield control. The midfielder exerted a lot of pressure on the opponents, made many effective tackles and a couple of significant interceptions.

Naiz Hassan - 6.5

Hassan came dangerously from the flanks and offered Maziya scoring possibilities. The playmaker was a potent threat in the attacking area.

Hamza Mohamed - 6.0

Hamza was not at his best today and offensively failed to help Maziya in any way. Was therefore subbed midway in the second half.

Hassan Raif Ahmed - 7.0

Raif came close to scoring but was unable to convert. Displayed positive play in the offensive third and gave his side crucial attacking assistance. 

Substitutes

Irufaan - 6.5

Irufaan came before the last quarter in place of Hamza Mohamed in search of goals. Did his offensive duties well, but still failed to cast his best spell on the pitch.

Nazeem - 6.5

Nazeem came on the pitch in place of the goal-scorer Wada. He won possession in the middle and made notable impact both defensively and offensively.  

Ali Fasir - 7.0

Ali Fasir made the left channel for Maziya more active, as he tried to penetrate the MBSG defence quite a lot of times. But, he was unable to come close to goal. Surely would have been more impactful, if brought on early.

Haisham - 6.5

Haisham came in the 81st minute and added some fresh legs to the team.