Mohun Bagan trounce Tollygunge Agragami in CFL clash

The Mariners dazzled fans with some fantastic football.

Mohun Bagan went back to winning ways in their Calcutta Football League with a thumping 3-0 win over Tollygunge Agragami at the Mohun Bagan ground on Sunday. Dipanda Dicka, Azharuddin Mallick and William Lalnunfela scored for the Mariners, who played some stunning football and went back to the top of the table.

Britto PM was awarded his Mohun Bagan debut, replacing Basant Singh for the Mariners while Lago Bei and Daniel Bidemi spearheaded Tollygunge’s dangerous attack. After some hard work in the early minutes, the hosts earned a penalty in the 10th minute when Pintu Mahata was brought down by Phoolchand Hembram. Dipanda Dicka’s corresponding spot-kick was superbly saved by Subham Roy, which meant that the Mariners jinx of being unable to score a goal in the first half in the Calcutta League campaign continued.

The frustration continued for the fans of Mohun Bagan and the save also increased Agragami’s confidence. The visitors created a decent chance in the 17th minute when Lago Bei’s powerful shot blazed the side-netting and almost caused problems for Sankar Roy. Mahata was being a menace for Tollygunge’s defender and his mistaken cross almost crept into the goal it the 22nd minute, but Roy hurried to parry it out.

There was some real chaos in the 26th minute when Mahata’s free-kick was punched out to Sourav Das, whose powerful shot was saved well by Roy. But the follow-up shot from Azharuddin Mallick was cleared off the line by Daniel Bidemi, and the Mariners agony continued. But the hosts finally broke their jinx of scoring a first-half goal three minutes later when a fantastic cross from Arijit Bagui was emphatically headed in by Dicka, who redeemed his penalty miss by putting his side ahead.

The Mariners found some life after the goal and Pintu again created a fantastic chance in the 32nd minute when his clever pass found Dicka inside the box and the Cameroonian’s shot unluckily struck the pos and went out. Arijit Bagui channelled the inner Ivan Perisic in him in the 35th minute, when his fantastic left-footed corner met a fantastic header from Azharuddin flew into the far post and doubled the lead for the hosts. Tollygunge was shocked by the blazing Mariners attack but created a rare chance in the 38th minute when Ashim Biswas shockingly missed from yards out after a fantastic cross from David Ngaite.

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Things didn’t get any better for the visitors in the 2nd half, which the Mariners started brightly and another Pintu Mahata free-kick almost crept into the goal in the 50th minute. Dicka got a chance to add another three minutes later when a sweet long-ball found him through on goal and despite going past the keeper, his weak shot was frantically cleared off the line. 

The Mariners were on flow on the day and continued producing brilliant attacking moves and in the 58th minute, a clever pass from Dicka sent Azharuddin free on goal. The striker’s left-footed shot was parried out well by Roy straight to Dicka, but the fantastic Agragami goalkeeper made an even better save from Dicka’s shot to keep his side level.

Azharuddin received another golden opportunity to score two minutes later when a fantastic ball from man of the match Pintu again sent him through on goal and after going around Roy, his shot only hit the side-netting and further frustrated the striker. Britto received a chance to score on his debut in the 63rd minute, but his shot from long range blazed past the post. The Mariners created a beautiful move four minutes later when a flowing passing move resulted in Arijit Bagui fooling his man and sending a low cross into the box that was flicked b Azharuddin but just rolled outside.

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Bagan created another superb chance in the 70th minute when Dicka’s pass sent Britto through on goal and his shot forced a great save from Roy, which rebounded back to Dicka whose shot flew into the stands.  Dicka stole the ball from midfield in the 77th minute, but his corresponding shot flew over the bar once again. Lago Bei missed a glorious chance to get one back in the 82nd minute when a deflected pass found him right in front of goal, but his poor shot went wide of the target.

The Mariners got their 3rd goal in the 84th minute when a sweet passing move saw Azharuddin lay off a clever pass to debutant William Lalnufela, who scored a clever goal minutes after coming on a substitute. This stunning win not only helped lift the mood of the fans but also exponentially increased the Mariners goal-difference as they look to retain their place at the top of the table.