I-League: Mohun Bagan back to winning ways against champions Minerva Punjab

After derby defeat, Mohun Bagan returned to winning ways in I-League 2018-19. The Kolkata giants rode on a 79th minute classy strike by Henry Kisekka to get three points against defending champions Minerva Punjab in Panchkula on Wednesday.

The ‘Green and Maroon’ brigade displayed amazing resilience, to shrug off the derby defeat against arch rivals East Bengal just 70 hours back, to dominate proceedings and pull off an important away win in the Indian domestic football league.

The win moved them up to sixth on the table with 12 points from eight games. East Bengal also have the same amount of points but have played one match less.

Mohun Bagan brought in Gurjinder at centre-back to replace Nigerian Eze Kinglsey who was sent off in the last game against East Bengal.

Five minutes before the half-time, Omar El Hussieny hit the underside of the bar from a wonderfully taken free-kick, but the ball bounced off the line to be cleared by the Minerva defence. 

Mohun Bagan claimed that they were denied a sure goal as the ball evidently crossed the goal line when the Minerva defender cleared it.

In the second half, Dicka missed an easy chance but his shot hit the post. Bagan and Kisekka were finally rewarded for their continuous pressure in the 79th minute. Omar El Hussieny sent a pass to Kisekka to finished it perfectly for the goal.

Mohun Bagan coach Shankarlal Chakraborty expressed happiness with the performance of his team and gave credit to his players. However, the team management was not happy with the refereeing. They have written to Sunando Dhar, CEO I-League about it.