Captain Bhaichung Bhutia with the Mohun Bagan mascot at the club’s ground on Wednesday. Picture by Santosh Ghosh

Calcutta: Maidan became green and maroon once again, with Mohun Bagan pocketing their 27th CFL Premier Division League title on Wednesday.

Bhaichung Bhutia led his team to a 2-0 win over Peerless SC in their Round XIII match. P.C. Lalawmpuia opened the scoring in the 27th minute and Bhaichung extended the lead in the 66th minute.

With a round to go, Mohun Bagan have 33 points — putting them beyond arch-rivals and defending champions East Bengal, who are on 25 points from 12 matches and scheduled to meet George Telegraph on Thursday.

Mohun Bagan made their intentions clear, with Bhaichung, Jose Ramirez Barreto and Lala- wmpuia starting in the attacking third.

The home team, egged on by chock-a-bloc stands, were looking for an early goal and fired on all cylinders right from the word go. Having squandered a couple of chances, Lalawmpuia finally opened the floodgates.

Latching on to a Habibur Rahman Mondal cross from the right, he moved forward and slotted home with a side volley from the edge of the penalty area.

Bhaichung, who had to have four stitches to his head after colliding with Satish Kumar Bharati in the 23rd minute, came out with a classic, though.

The Bagan captain got hold of the ball following a Peter Siddiqui free kick. The agile forward dodged one Peerless defender inside the box and took another in his stride, before rolling the ball into the far corner of the box with a left-foot tap.

Barreto played as a withdrawn forward while fellow Brazilian Douglas da Silva started in central defence.

While it gave coach Carlos Roberto Pereira offensive options with Barreto operating from behind, Douglas’s presence in the back line was to keep a tab on Peerless forward Subair Muritala Ali.

In the second minute of the match, Bhaichung made a surging run from the left after grabbing a through ball from the middle and unleashed a powerful left-footer. But Peerless custodian Subrabuddin Chowdhury was in the right place to deny him.

Four minutes later, a Habibur cross from the right found an unmarked Lalawmpuia just outside the box. The latter, who had only the Peerless goalkeeper to beat, shot wide.

Mihir Bose’s men, who were keen on defending their citadel rather going on the offensive, finally succumbed to the Lalawmpuia strike.

Thereafter, Bhaichung collided with Satish Bharati and injured his head. Satish was booked while Bhutia, after receiving four stitches, returned to the field, ten minutes later.

In search of more goals, Pereira brought on Subhasish Roy Chowdhury and S. Venkatesh. The fall of Peerless citadel for the second time was just a matter of time.

With Wednesday’s defeat, Peerless now have 15 points from 13 outings. Mohun Bagan will take on Mohammedan Sporting on Sunday but the derby does not hold any importance now.

TEAMS

Mohun Bagan: Shilton Paul, Habibur Rahman Mondal (Subhasish Roy Chowdhury 57’), Sanjeev Maria, Peter Siddiqui, Rauf Khan, Douglas Da Silva, James Singh (Tapan Maity 77’), Dharamjit Singh, Jose Ramirez Barreto, Bhaichung Bhutia, P.C. Lalawmpuia (S. Venkatesh)

Peerless SC: Subrabuddin Chowdhury, Zoheb Hassan (Kamal Bhunia 86’), Satish Kumar Bharti, Saheb Ali, Tarak Roy, Gouranga Biswas, Soumen Sarkar, Ugmu James Agbo, Kartick Kisku (Arup Singha 75’), Babin Biswas, Subair Muritala Ali (Debjit Bhowmick 73’)

Referee: Minangshu Bhattacharya