Ashim Biswas, Sunil Chhetri and Jerry Zirsanga (right to left) after Mohun Bagan’s second goal against Mohammedan Sporting on Sunday. Picture by Santosh Ghosh

Calcutta: Agreed that it’s premature to say Mohammedan Sporting as a footballing force are dying. But the way Mohun Bagan outran, outclassed and finally demolished them 3-0 in a CFL Super Division match at the Salt Lake Stadium on Sunday brought up the match once again that the black-and-white brigade is very much on the wane.

The contest could also be observed as a study in contrast: while one team was shining and looked determined to reclaim the championship, the other struggling to get a foothold on surviving the league itself.

Ashim Biswas put Mohun Bagan ahead in as early as 14th minute. Then in the second half, W. Mehraj Uddin (52nd minute) and Sunil Chhetri (63rd) completed the rout. The scoreline could have easily doubled as two goals — one each from Ashim and Chhetri — were ruled out as off-side and the same duo messed up converting sitters on quite a few occasions.

At no point of time did Mridul Banerjee’s Mohammedan Sporting manage to open up the opponents’ defence — a fact that clearly pointed to Mohun Bagan’s omnipotent presence in the match.

The win took Mohun Bagan to 17 points from seven outings while Mohammedan Sporting, having suffered their fourth consecutive defeat, remained on three from five matches.

Seen from a technical point of view, it was Subrata Bhattacharya’s midfield that tilted the match heavily in favour of his team. Dharamjeet Singh, Noel Wilson and Tomba Singh gelled so well and worked on feeding the three-pronged forward line so elegantly that Mohammedan Sporting’s intention of guarding the defence and frustrating the opponents soon went up in smoke.

Tomba and Dharamjeet started the onslaught with inviting crosses from both flanks in the seventh and ninth minutes respectively, but Brazilian Reggis Carlos Montero and Ashim failed to get to the ball in time.

The latter, however, soon opened the floodgates. When Ashim blasted off for Mehraj Uddin’s high centre, beating the off-side trap, he kept his cool, dodged past goalkeeper Chinmoy Banerjee twice before volleying home the opening goal.

Basudeb Mondal replaced an ordinary Reggis, who was culprits for squandering too many promising moves by standing on off-side positions, on the half-hour mark as Mohun Bagan temporarily decided to slow the pace of the game.

Their attacking designs, though, were restored in the second-half when Jerry Zirsanga substituted captain Manitombi Singh and the green-and-maroon outfit was then stomping the rival area with as many as four forwards.

In the 52nd minute, Mohun Bagan won a free-kick near the box. Basudeb pushed it sideways, Wilson sold a dummy over it and Mehraj Uddin came up with a powerful right-footed grounder, which gave Chinmoy little chance to react.

Eleven minutes later, the Bagan midfield again came in action as Dharamjeet’s long across-the-field centre found Zirsanga on the right. the second-half substitute relayed it back to his former Tata Football Academy (TFA) teammate Chhetri at the other post. The latter took his time and drove home unchallenged.

In the 69th minute, Ashim followed the ball and pushed it in after Chinmoy blocked a Chhetri try. But referee Subrata Das ruled the goal out saying the former was off-side. Nine minutes from time, a Chhetri ‘goal’ was disallowed on the grounds that Ashim was off-side.

Teams

Mohun Bagan: Prasanta Dora; Manitombi Singh (Jerry Zirsanga, 46), W. Mehraj Uddin, Palash Karmakar, Eduardo Coelho; Tomba Singh (Dulal Biswas, 77), Noel Wilson, Dharamjeet Singh; Reggis Carlos Montero (Basudeb Mondal, 30), Sunil Chhetri, Ashim Biswas.

Mohammedan Sporting: Chinmoy Banerjee; Temjem Kibang, Naushad Musha, Aga Abdul Wahid, K. Ratan Singh (Syed Alamdar Reza, 66); Amjad Hussain, Mohammed Yasin, Jiten Rai, Anit Ghosh (Mohammed Ali, 73), Zaheer Abbas; Raman Vijayan (Sheikh Habib Ali, 50).

Referee: Subrata Das.