Why Liston Colaco could be the special weapon for Mohun Bagan Super Giant in second leg against Jamshedpur FC?

Mohun Bagan Super Giant will look for a comeback in second leg against Jamshedpur FC.

Indian Super League (ISL) club Mohun Bagan Super Giant and Liston Colaco are going to be eager to turn things around in their quest to reach the 2024-25 ISL Final. The Mariners suffered a 2-1 loss to Jamshedpur FC in the first leg of the semifinal, failing to really get the better of the opposition on the night.

However, the Mariners are unbeaten at the Salt Lake Stadium this season and have won their last 11 matches at home. They will make a major push to get the comeback, and Liston Colaco can actually play a key role in making that happen for them.

The 26-year-old winger is riding on some encouraging form after his heroics for India during the March international break. The unpredictable winger can actually be Jose Molina’s trump card in his challenge of securing a dominant win over Jamshedpur.

Liston Colaco can spark a comeback

A major reason for Mohun Bagan’s relatively underwhelming performance in the first leg against Jamshedpur FC was because it was their first game after a three-week break. A lot of the players did not play with each other much, causing certain issues to pop up in their performances. However, that wasn’t really applicable for Liston.

He created three goal-scoring chances for the Mariners, the highest for any player across both teams. Colaco is oozing with high confidence after his heroics for India, after scoring his first international goal against the Maldives.

Liston’s tendency of running at the opposition defenders and his driving nature can potentially spark his teammates to revitalize their performance levels too. The winger can perhaps help his forwards look to give that extra much more because of his hard-working nature and ability to constantly run at the defenders to cause them trouble.

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Colaco’s playing style can torment makeshift Jamshedpur FC backline

Jamshedpur FC will be missing some defenders for the second leg against Mohun Bagan, with Ashutosh Mehta and Stephen Eze both ruled out. This will definitely work in the favour of the Mariners’ frontline and definitely someone with the qualities of Colaco. Liston will able to be licking his lips at being able to burst forward at the makeshift Jamshedpur FC backline.

With Nikhil Barla likely to play in the right-back role, Colaco will be looking to torment the defender with his clever dribbles and forward runs into the final third. He can also cause the Men of Steel’s defensive shape to be disrupted by his clever movement in and around the area, as well as his tendency to get inside the box with the ball.

An in-form Liston can be a real daunting task to face for Jamshedpur FC without their reliable defenders, especially considering they also must focus on keeping the likes of Jason Cummings and Jamie Maclaren quiet. Colaco could add that extra edge to his side attacking style with his unpredictable movement around the opposition half to open up free space for his teammates.

Major goalscoring and creative threat

While a lot of focus might be on the Mohun Bagan forwards for their goals, Colaco can be an ace-in-the-hole in Molina’s playing style. Indeed, the 26-year-old winger has picked up his performance levels in recent weeks and proven his quality at getting clutch goal contributions. Liston will be given utmost freedom by Molina to burst forward into the Jamshedpur area to cause trouble and he can torment them because of his sharp final product.

The winger had actually scored his first goal of the 2024-25 ISL campaign in the 3-0 win over Jamshedpur FC at the Salt Lake Stadium. He aims to repeat that heroics this time around, for which the winger needs to be braver in the final third. Indeed, Liston has to constantly try to get into empty areas in and around of Jamshedpur FC’s box to cause them major trouble. He proved during the international break that he can score a variety of goals by popping up with a header goal against the Maldives.

Colaco also excels in taking tormenting long-range efforts that can power into the goal, or curl the ball into the top corner. He’ll look to be braver in taking more shots on target to trouble Jamshedpur and his stunning long-range efforts can be a difference maker if the Men of Steel opt to sit deep in their own half.

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