Jose Ramirez Barreto outjumps two Peerless defenders during their Premier Division match at the Mohun Bagan ground on Tuesday. A Telegraph picture

Calcutta: This was like a mountaineer struggling to scale a country peak after conquering Mount Everest.

Mohun Bagan didn’t eventually falter, but the three points against Peerless in the CFL Premier Division tie came via a debatable 86th minute strike by Shanmugham Venkatesh.

It was all square after Peerless had neutralised a two-goal first-half deficit and the minutes were ticking by quickly. Jose Ramirez Barreto laid down an Ishfaq Ahmed centre for Venkatesh to pounce on and volley home left-footed.

The Peerless players thought the medio was off side and made no bones about their feeling. The referee and his assistant stuck to their decision. Three-two, and the thousands at the Mohun Bagan ground heaved a collected sigh of relief. There was not enough time left for even the spirited Peerless side to equalise again.

It was Mohun Bagan’s most unconvincing display in the league thus far. They looked a shadow of the aggressive and energetic side which scored four times against East Bengal just three days ago.

There were mispasses galore, with left-back Shubhashish Roy Chowdhury being the chief culprit. The famed midfield showed neither purpose nor intent. Too many back passes and square passes were played unnecessarily, hampering the flow of the game.

Ten minutes had elapsed before Mohun Bagan got their first look at the rival goal. A long James Singh corner was relayed to the goalmouth by Lalkamal Bhowmick. Jose Ramirez Barreto lobbed the ball towards the open goal, but Tarak Roy emerged on the scene from nowhere and headed the ball away from the goalline.

The other clear chance came Lalawmpuia’s way when he latched on to a fine crossfield pass from Dharamjit Singh but shot into a defender’s body.

Neither of Mohun Bagan’s two first-half goals was the result of a cohesive move.

Peter Siddiqui got a perfect header to finish off a James corner in the 27th minute. A minute before half-time, Saheb Ali blocked Barreto inside dangerzone and referee Rathin Mukherjee promptly signalled penalty. The Brazilian slotted the ball home easily to notch up his seventh goal of the league.

Peerless looked a composed side. They played a clean game based on neat passing, but couldn’t quite create goal-threatening chances.

The second-half was different, with both teams setting up several scoring opportunities. A Lalawmpuia effort was ruled off side. Barreto then shot straight into onrushing ’keeper Rakesh Prasad.

There was activity at the other end too. Kartik Kisku, brought in at the start of the second session, first set up Subair Muritala who chipped the ball over an onrushing Shilton Paul. Kisku himself scored six minutes later with a right-footer to stun the Mohun Bagan camp.

Mohun Bagan may be leading the standings, but the fact that they have let in nine goals in six games will be a reason for worry.

Panic was just about setting into the Mohun Bagan camp, with Peter Odafe and Lalawmpuia being cautioned. Venkatesh’s goal saved them the blushes even as Peerless were left wondering what they needed to do for a good result against the Big Two. They were leading East Bengal 2-0 when the game was abandoned (in the replay Peerless lost 0-3). On Tuesday, they should have returned home with a point at least.

TEAMS

Mohun Bagan: Shilton Pal, Habibur Rehman, Peter Odafe, Peter Siddiqui, Subhashish Roy Chowdhury (M. Sudheesh, 57), Lalkamal Bhowmick (Sumon Dutta, 64), James Singh, Dharamjit Singh, S. Venkatesh, Jose Ramirez Barreto, P.C. Lalawmpuia (Ishfaq Ahmed, 74)

Peerless: Rakesh Prasad, Zoheb Hassan, Dibyendu Panja, Saheb Ali (Buddha Maity, 77), Tarak Roy, Gouranga Biswas, James Agbo, Sovan Das (Sanjib Ghosh, 46), Arup Singha (Kartik Kisku, 46), Babin Biswas, Subair Muritala

Referee: Rathin Mukherjee.