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| Gour Naskar watches Lalawmpuia take a crack at the George Telegraph goal in their Premier Division match on Wednesday. A Telegraph picture |
Calcutta: On a day when rain failed to dampen the spirit of cricket fans in Mumbai, Mohun Bagan had hardly anything to offer their supporters despite kicking off their Sahara CFL Premier Division second phase campaign with a 3-0 win.
Leading scorer Jose Ramirez Barreto netted a brace to take his tally to nine, while Sanjoy Mallick conceded a suicidal goal to complete wooden spooners George Telegraph’s misery.
Beneath the gloss of that scoreline was a skeleton of aimless, insipid football — something assistant coach Satyajit Chatterjee attributed to the Federation Cup loss to eventual champions East Bengal.
The audience of about 5000 — about one-fourth of the total capacity at the Mohun Bagan ground — braved inclement weather, much like the Mumbaikars, only to return a dissatisfied lot as Dharamjit Singh & Co. failed to fulfil expectations.
Mohun Bagan started on a sizzling note and threatened to score twice inside the first 10 minutes. S. Venkatesh’s header off a Habibur Rehman Mondal cross forced an acrobatic save from George Telegraph ’keeper Arnab Das Sharma. P.C. Lalawmpuia then missed the target following a Barreto assist.
That spark in Carlos Roberto Pereira’s side fizzled out soon after and despite Mallick’s 23rd-minute faux pas — he headed the ball into his own goal while attempting to clear a James Singh corner — Mohun Bagan never really looked in control of proceedings.
In fact, the hosts survived a couple of close calls in the second half. Gour Naskar failed to capitalise on a gilt-edged opportunity, while Nigerian Saheed Olowo was denied by the post. As George Telegraph started becoming ambitious, Barreto played the kill-joy.
The Brazilian nodded home after following a flick from stand-in captain Dharamji in the 57th minute. With 11 minutes remaining, the Brazilian placed his shot from the edge of the box to perfection.
Mohun Bagan thus stayed atop the table with 20 points from eight matches. George Telegraph remained on a meagre three.
TEAMS
Mohun Bagan: Imran Khan; Habibur Rehman Mondal, Peter Odafe, Peter Siddiqui, Rauf Khan (Rahul Kumar, 73); Anit Ghosh, James Singh, S. Venkatesh (Chinmoy Sarkar, 46), Dharamjit Singh; Jose Ramirez Barreto, PC Lalawmpuia
George Telegraph: Arnab Das Sharma; Sanjay Mallick, Gour Naskar, Paban Das, Biswajit Saha; Subha Kumar, Satyajit Bose, Biplab Adhikary (Samanta Shee, 46), Prodip Roy (Tarak Bose, 71), Saheed Olowo; Nuruddin Salau Olawale (Goutam Thakur, 75)
Referee: Prabir Dhar