Mohun Bagan hammer Food Corporation to gain leg up in CFL title race

Striker Asier Dipanda Dicka scored a hat-trick in the Mariners' commanding win.

Mohun Bagan came out on top with a dominant 5-0 win in their Calcutta Football League clash over underwhelming Food Corporation of India, at the Mohun Bagan Ground earlier today. An Asier Dianda Dicka hat-trick as well as goals from Lalchhawnkima and Tirthankar Sarkar helded trounce a weak FCI side.

The match started with a unusual attack from Food Corporation of India when the away team's right winger ran behind the Mohun Bagan defense, but young goalkeeper Shankar Roy was not to be beaten.

The game then turned on its head from there as the Mariners started controlling the run of play. Both Henry Kisekka and Dicka had some half chances which they missed.  Nearing the half hour mark, Abhishek Ambekar's stinging cross caused trouble in the FCI penalty box, as the defenders panicked, but Subodh Kumar finally came to the rescue. The defender's clearance took a shocking deflection, as the ball went whistling over his own net.

Right at the half hour mark the ever-present Arijit Bagui came up with a pinpoint cross which found Kisekka in the box, the Ugandan forward's header went a whisker wide of the far post.

The Mariners started dominating the run of play and FCI were looking to flood men inside the penalty area, as they wanted to see off the first half. Bagan used both the flanks as they were bombarding the FCI defense with crosses from both the sides.

Ambekar's cross from the left found Kisekka totally unmarked in the box. But the Ugandan again failed to connect with his header properly as it went straight toward the FCI custodian. This was a golden opportunity for the Mariners to go ahead in the match.

As the match went on, the Mariners were getting more and more frustrated as they were expected to score a few against a relatively weak FCI side. The away team on the other hand, somehow wanted to get to halftime with the scores level and in that process, FCI custodian Dhananjay Adhikari was booked for timewasting.

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Bagan's continuous efforts finally bore fruit in the last minute of added-time in the first half, as Ambekar's free-kick was headed on by Britto, but the FCI goalkeeper kept it out brilliantly. But, Dipanda Dicka who was lurking in the box, slotted the ball home from the rebound.

The Mariners came into the second half with more intent as head coach Shankarlal Chakraborty made some decisive changes, with Sarkar and Pintu Mahata coming on.

The home team were in the hunt for more goals as they wanted to win by a superior margin. Chakraborty's changes had an immediate effect in the game as Tirthankar's pinpoint delivery from the corner found a crowd Mohun Bagan players in the box, but the FCI custodian bravely came off his line to fist the ball away from danger.

Arijit Bagui's low cross in the 62nd minute found Dicka totally unmarked in the box. The Cameroonian talisman made no mistake to increase the lead for the Mariners. There was a clear sense of urgency from the Green and Maroons as Mahata was freed with a great pass from Kisekka. The winger ran behind the FCI defense and completed the move with a fine cross to find Dicka in the box. The Cameroonian was again at the right place to complete his hat-trick and take his season tally to nine goals in the league campaign.

Minutes later, FCI defender Laxmikanta Dey elbowed Dicka dangerously and the referee was there to send off the defender, as the fans roared in anger from the stands. The following free-kick saw Sarkar dleiver a great ball in, which was missed by everyone in the box. The ball finally struck the far post and went in.

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FCI looked very shabby at the back as the Mariners strangled them to increase their margin of victory. At the 84th minute mark, Tirthankar was again the orchestrator of the final nail in FCI's coffin, as his corner was headed home by defender Kim Kima to take the score to an embarassing 5-0.

The win means the Mariners gain a leg up in the nail-biting CFL title race, having a three-point lead with two more rounds of games to go. All eyes will now be on rivals East Bengal to see if they can respond in kind in their next match to go level on points again.