Kolkata Derby Indian Player Ratings: Danmawia the star as East Bengal edge five-goal thriller

It was the Red and Gold's first win in this fixture in two years.

East Bengal earned their first Kolkata Derby win in two years by piping Mohun Bagan 3-2 in a thriller at the Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata on Sunday. After the Mariners opened the scoring with Azharuddin Mallick, East Bengal rallied back to score through Jobby Justin and Laldanmawia Ralte. Despite pulling one back through Dipanda Dicka late on, a 10-man Bagan couldn’t score the equalizer and allowed the Red and Gold Brigade to record a famous win in Alejandro Menendez’s first derby.

Here are our Indian player ratings from the match:

East Bengal

Rakshit Dagar-  6.0

Didn’t have much to do in the first half and despite stretching for Omar’s assist, couldn’t latch onto it. However, he improved in the second half, where he collected the long-balls brilliantly and made a superb save to deny Faiaz, giving his side some confidence.  

Lalramchullova- 5.5

The right-back was given big problems by Omar. He got too easily beaten by the Egyptian for the goal, allowing his side to go behind. He recovered somewhat after that, but was still unconvincing, allowing too many attacks to be created through his side.  

Manoj Mohamed- 5.5

Manoj allowed Azharuddin to overlap him for the goal, but recovered from that. He made a goal-line clearance and did well to neutralize Azhar’s threat with his compelling work.

Manoj provided the cross which was headed on by Danmawia for Justin’s terrific goal, but was terrorized by Faiaz, who got the better of him multiple times. Lucky not to concede more.

Lalrindika Ralte- 7.0

Dika was at the heart of most East Bengal attacks, using his creativity to flow through some beautiful passes into the final third. Made a few terrific passes and helped his side maintain dominance in possession. Struck a sweet free-kick to assist Danmawia’s second, proving why he’s so feared on set-pieces.

Laldanmawia Ralte- 8.0

Danmawia looked pumped up from the first minutes and terrorized the Mariners throughout the evening. His movement and acceleration created all sorts of problems for Abhishek Ambekar and he outwitted their defence to score a beautifully worked goal.

Ralte also showed his prowess in the air, winning the header to assist Justin’s goal. Danmawia showed even more urgency to add another, as he got on the end of Dika’s free-kick and scored from the rebound to register a fantastic brace.

Brandon Vanlalremdika- 5.5

Brandon was a bit isolated on the left flank, but tried to use his intelligence to stitch together some attacks. He linked-up well with his attackers at times, but did nothing noteworthy. Was substituted in the second half after a disappointing performance.

Jobby Justin- 7.0

Justin further proved his claim for a spot in the Indian national team with a blazing performance in the derby. He looked dangerous with his movement from the getgo, linking-up superbly with Santos and Danmawia.

Justin scuffed one chance early on, but made up for it by creating Danmawia’s goal beautifully. He did one better, later on, scoring an acrobatic side-volley to give his side the lead.

Substitutions

Kamalpreet Singh- 6.0

Gave East Bengal some defensive solidity after coming on and helped them see out the game.

Samad Ali Mallick- NA

Samad was brought on late to help protect the wings and did that pretty well.

Salam Ranjan Singh- NA

Came on in the dying minutes, but did well to defend set-pieces.

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Mohun Bagan

Sankar Roy- 6.0

Sankar was stable with his handling of the ball, but couldn’t really do much to stop the goals from close range. Did well to stop Danmawia’s header, but was unlucky to concede after that. The young custodian pulled off a terrific save in a one-on-one situation with Jobby in the dying minutes to keep his side from conceding more.

Arijit Bagui- 6.5

Bagui wasn’t at his attacking best, but settled for a more defensive role to help the team. He did well to nullify Brandon’s threat, using his experience to his advantage.

He took the initiative to start the comeback and marauded forward with pace, but his superb crosses weren’t met by anyone.  

Lalchhawnkima- 4.5

Kimkima had a nightmare dealing with some of East Bengal’s attacks. He wasn’t able to track Justin’s movement well and his positional sense was poor as well. He was at fault for both goals with his poor positioning, with him disrupting the offside line to play Jobby on-side for the goal. Wouldn’t want to remember this disappointing performance for long.

Abhishek Ambekar- 5.5

Ambekar had a real problem with the more experienced Laldanmawia Ralte and was outwitted on many occasions. Ralte got the better of him multiple times, especially outjumping Ambekar to assist Justin’s goal. He looked frustrated on his side and was later yellow-carded for a poor challenge.

Sourav Das- 7.0

Das was pretty energetic in the middle, but often got outwitted by the fluid movement of his rivals. He did well to add steel with some crunching challenges and saved his side early on by tracking back amazingly to stop what would have been a sure goal from Justin. Always looked eager to start attacks and was an ever-present option for his players, whilst also tracking back and doing his defensive work well by winning back the ball multiple times.

Azharuddin Mallick- 6.0

Azharuddin didn’t really see much of the ball, but when he did, he made sure to score from close range. Outwitted Mohammad for the goal, but didn’t create anything after that. Substituted before half-time.

Substitutions

Sheik Faiaz- 6.5

Made his first appearance in dire circumstances, but looked urgent to get thigns going. Faiaz made some nice movement forward, but wasn’t that good apart from that. He had a shot saved really well in the second half and looked positive. Looked dangerous with his unpredictability, but couldn’t do much.

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Gurjinder Kumar- 6.0

Was brought on to solidify the Mariners' defence and didn’t let the pressure get to him. Despite getting booked for a cynical challenge, he did decently to stop some chances.