Calcutta: For Sanjay Sen, it's still a bit too early to start thinking about Sunday's I-League Derby. But deep down, he also knows that Mohun Bagan will go into the return-leg clash against East Bengal with a very good mindset.
His confidence would stem from the fact that his team efficiently won the AFC Cup Group E tie against Dhaka Abahani - a come-from-behind victory - after thrashing Bengaluru FC the other day.
Their start was scrappy and Abahani made good use of the situation to go one-up through a strike from Jonathan Brown, who had represented the Wales age-group side. But as Jeje Lalpekhlua equalised at the stroke of half-time, Bagan quickly gained control of the game with Balwant Singh and Sony Norde ensuring a 3-1 win at the Rabindra Sarobar Stadium on Tuesday.
The AFC Cup may not be on Bagan's priority list, but they will be happy to find themselves at second spot in the group at present, with three points from two matches so far.
Bagan were not at full strength on Tuesday. The regulars in Anas Edathodika, Pritam Kotal, Souvik Chakrabarty and Darryl Duffy were rested, of course, keeping the Derby in mind. Yet, there were no hassles as such for the city giants as the reserves put in a pretty decent effort.
Jeje and Balwant too were very impressive and again, Sony and Katsumi Yusa - particularly the Haitian - were on top of their game to keep Bagan in good stead, especially before their remaining five I-League matches.
Yes, there were occasions when their defence was caught off-guard especially early in the second half when the visitors got a wonderful opportunity to draw level. But there was little cause for concern as Anas and Pritam would be back in the later matches to tighten things.
Another thing that should make coach Sen happy is Balwant's game. Apart from giving Bagan the lead, he played a role during the equaliser as well.
From the right, he centred one for Sony who chest-trapped it towards Jeje. And having positioned himself perfectly, Jeje smartly slotted home a left-footer. Three minutes post change of ends, Katsumi sent one for Balwant on the left and just like out-and-out striker is expected to do, he converted with his left foot, beating the rival goalie all ends up.
He could easily have scored his second of the game, but the rival goalie Mohammed Sahidul Alam deflected Balwant's right-footed attempt to safety in the 78th minute. In fact, the margin could have been bigger for Bagan had Alam not denied Katsumi six minutes later when the Japanese unleashed a left-footer from the edge of the box.
But he couldn't deny Sony, who continues to be in a league of his own. Receiving a ball from Balwant, he played a one-two with Jeje and thereafter simply toyed with Abahani defenders before coming up with the icing on the cake for Bagan.
"We came back really well after conceding. I agree we gained momentum. But honestly, we'll start thinking about the Derby only when we get down to training from Thursday," Sen said after the match.
Balwant, though, agreed he has grown in confidence having scored in this game. "Obviously, if you score in this kind of a game, it increases your confidence. "Overall, I am happy with my performance. I could have scored more today but missed some. The duty of a striker is to score and I really want to do so in the Derby," he said.
TEAMS
Mohun Bagan: Debjit Majumder; Sarthak Golui, Eduardo Ferreira (Bikramjit Singh Jr, 72), Kinshuk Debnath, Raju Gaikwad; Katsumi Yusa, Sehnaj Singh, Bikramjit Singh (Prabir Das, 64), Sony Norde; Balwant Singh, Jeje Lalpekhlua (Robinson Singh, 90).
Dhaka Abahani: Mohammed Sahidul Alam; Mohammed Waly Faisal, Mohammed Yeasin Khan, Mohammed Nasiurddin Chowdhury, Tutul Hosain Badsha, Mohammed Mamun Miah (Rubel Miya, 83); Rayhan Hasan; Sohel Rana (Imtiaz Sultan, 90+1), Jonathan Brown; Emeka Onuoha, Mohammed Ziban
Referee: Mohammed Mousa Abu Loum (Jordan)
MoM: Balwant Singh
