I-League commentary: Mohun Bagan, East Bengal play out thrilling 1-1 draw

Mohun Bagan are still on top of the table with seven points from three games, followed by Bengaluru FC who are on six with a game in hand. East Bengal are third with 5 points.

Two classic goals from two great strikers summed up the day and at the end this seems to be a fair result. The game sprang to life in the second half with both teams registering shots on goal and hadn't it been for the two custodians, the score line would have read something different

Referee blows the final whistle and the first Kolkata derby of the I-League season ends 1-1

90+1' WHAT A SAVE! Glen's powerful point blank header is somehow saved by Rehenesh. He was all at sea as Glen set himself up to head home a cross from right but his quick reflexes saved the day for East Bengal

Three minutes added.

Ranti Martins has been declared as the hero of the match

87' Rahul Bheke booked for a rough tackle on Pronoy

84' JUST OVER! Dong shows glimpses of his last derby heroics. Takes the free kick from a fair distance and it's inches off the cross bar. Debjit however had it covered

82' Mehtab throws himself into the firing lines of Katsumi and the Japanese gives away a free kick due to a high boot raised

79'  Mohun Bagan 1-1 East Bengal

76' GOOAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLL!!!!! Mohun Bagan are back on level terms. Norde floats in a delightful cross from a free kick from the left and Glen gets his head to it. Rehenesh gets a hand to the ball but fails to stop the rocket header.

73' SAVED! Ranti takes the free kick instead of Dong and he almost got his brace. The Nigerian unleashes a clever shot over the wall but Debjit makes a superb save by diving to his left and it results in a corner

71' Dong fouled just ahead of MB D box and EB get a free kick

69' WHAT A MESS! Rehenesh fails to hold on to a long ball in the box and it almost fell into the path of a MB player, but Bello Rasaq got to it first and cleared

Ranti has faced a lot of criticism in recent times but that was pure class from the Nigerian

63' GOAAAAAAAALLLLLL!  East Bengal have gone ahead and the move came out of no where. Bikash Jairu takes the ball on the left and floats it into MB box, Ranti had gauged it right and he volleys it home with his right foot past the stranded MB goal keeper

61' Norde's dangerous looking corner fisted away by Rehenesh

56' Katsumi tackles Saumik, which looked a bit rash but the referee only gives a free kick

Pronoy Halder and Arnab Mondal have been shown yellow

The perfect start to the second half and the crowd are getting into the act slowly

52' SAVED! Do Dong takes the ball all on his own and unleashes a left footed shot, which is on target but Debjit dives to his left to parry it away for a corner

50' SAVED! What a delightful through ball by Katsumi, Glen guesses it right and runs clear of EB defence to be on a one on one position with Rehenesh. He takes an shot but the custodian saves with his left hand and the EB defenders take the ball to safety

48' Ranti Martins runs down the left and cross into the box but the ball is cleared this time by the MB defenders

46' Glen makes his way into the EB box from the left but his cross is cleared to safety

Both teams get into a hurdle and referee blows the whistle for the final 45 minutes

Also rough tackles have flown in from the East Bengal players and they have to be careful as the referee might reach out to his pocket very soon. Katsumi and Glen looked alive while Do Dong Hyun, barring that last minute header, has not been able to stamp his authority on the match till now.

Both teams may be playing it a bit safe with the I-League in it's initial stage, but the second half can open up with one goal

And that's the end of the half

45+2' SO CLOSE! Do Dong came real close to open the account as he was in position in MB box to head home, he connected well to a cross from right, but the ball flew just wide.

Two minutes added

45' SAVED! Norde twist and turns and gets into the EB box and crosses, but a weak header by MB forward is gobbled up by Rehenesh

43' Jairu's cross from right easily grasped by MB gk Debjit

Its' still nil-nil. The first half has so far been boring to say the least

38' This time Norde is injured. Mehtab tackled him and the medical staff is on the ground

36' Saumik Dey commits a knee crunching tackle on Katsumi on the sidelines

33' Katsumi to Glen and as he tried to nudge past Mehtab, he was brought down, and he is still lying there. EB and MB players get involved in a heated argument

31' Up and over! Norde's right footed freekick flies over the EB cross bar

30' Glenn fouled  by Arnab and MB get a freekick in a dangerous position

27' Katsumi tries to cut into the EB box but the defence takes the ball away from his feet and Rehenesh does the rest

26' Crowd has gone a bit silent 

25' None of the teams have managed to conjure up a goal scoring pass till now

22' Ranti and Dong try to play an one two and progress into MB box but their opposition defence averts danger

20' Glenn is offside again

17' Norde breaks free and square passes to Balwant who takes a shy at the goal from distance by EB custodian Rehenesh easily saves it

16' SAVED! Debjit takes control of a mild header by an EB forward

11' Sony Norde tries to thread in a cross from the left by east Bengal defence clears

10' Mehtab Hossain down with an injury. Pronoy Haldar had fouled him

9' A dangerous ball was floated inside the East Bengal circle and Cornel Glenn is off side

6' Katsumi's freekick and it's a foul by MB players

.@Mohun_BaganAC XI: Majumder (gk), Yusa (c), Souvik, Kotal, Glen, Kinshuk, Dhana, Mallick, Halder, Sobrosa, Norde #KolkataDerby #MBvsEB

— Goal India (@Goal_India) January 23, 2016

.@eastbengalfc XI: Ruidas, Mondal (c), Bheke, Rasaq, Saumik, Ranti, Rafique, Mehtab, Do, Jairu, Rehenesh (gk) #KolkataDerby #MBvsEB #ILeague

— Goal India (@Goal_India) January 23, 2016