JCT’s Jo Paul Ancheri (right), who got the matchwinner versus Bagan, in action on Sunday. Picture by Santosh Ghosh

Calcutta: The balls kept coming in the right places all right. But the man who could have converted them with class and panache for Mohun Bagan was packing his bags at his Kasba residence.

Jose Ramirez Barreto was not there at Salt Lake Stadium, but his absence made each of the 20,000-odd in the ground feel what he means to Mohun Bagan. The green-and-maroon brigade created chances galore, but went down 0-1 to JCT in the National Football League match, Jo Paul Ancheri scoring the winner in the 21st minute.

It was Mohun Bagan’s third loss in a row, leaving them on 11 points from nine games. JCT have 14 from nine.

The home team looked determined right from the outset. It seemed they are keen to prove Mohun Bagan can do without the talismanic Brazilian. It was an organised display in the middle-third by the city giants, with Ashim Biswas and Basudeb Mondal leading from the front.

Ashim showed once again why he is so highly rated. Playing in an unfamiliar position, he was distributing the ball well and it seemed Mohun Bagan might just do it. Mehtab Hussain was making the runs down the flanks and floating the ball in. But with Eduardo playing upfront, you cannot expect too much.

The Brazilian was suffering from dehydration on Saturday, but coach Aloke Mukherjee made the gamble of fielding him. The Brazilian had to be taken off in the 46th minute after having played a major role in killing off most of the attacks.

JCT, on the other hand, adopted the wait-and-watch policy and raised counter-attacks as and when the opportunity arose. Veteran Stephen Abarowei was quite a livewire upfront, shuffling his position continuously and disturbing the defence.

In fact, he had a hand in the goal as well. ’Keeper Arindam Ghosh came out trying to grip a Ram Pal corner, but with Stephen breathing down his throat, he faltered. Ancheri controlled the ball well and unleashed a right-footer that eluded Rishi Kapoor’s head and went into the net.

Mohun Bagan could have gone ahead in the 13th minute when Eduardo was allowed a free-header on top of the six-yard box, but it wasn’t powerful enough to test Mansuru Mohammed.

Mohammed, in fact, had a very good game. There is nothing showy about his game, but he was always there behind the ball, guarding the JCT citadel with conviction. Mohun Bagan brought in Sunil Chettri in place of Eduardo. And he came close to making it 1-1 following a one-two with Hardeep Gill. Chettri got inside the box and with only Mohammed at his mercy, shot over.

TEAMS

JCT: Mansuru Mohammed, Jagjit Randhawa, Musah Aliu, K.V. Dhanesh, Jaspal Singh, Baldeep Singh (Jaswinder Singh, 33), Sukhjinder Singh, Jo Paul Ancheri, Ram Pal, Charanjit Kumar (Manjit Singh 64), Stephen Abarowei (Surjit Singh, 75).

Mohun Bagan: Arindam Ghosh, Manitombi Singh, Leonardo D’Almeida, Harpreet Singh, Rishi Kapoor, Mehtab Hussain (Hardeep Saini, 73), Basudeb Mondal, Eduardo (Sunil Chettri 46, Palash Karmakar, 85), Rennedy Singh, Ashim Biswas, Hardeep Gill.

Referee: Deepak Singh Bisht.

Chaos after match

A spectator in the VIP stand was struck on the head as supporters turned unruly at the end of the match.

The crowd gheraoed the team bus and pelted stones as it was about to leave the stadium premises.