ATK Mohun Bagan cemented its position on top of the current Indian Super League by convincingly outplaying its traditional rival SC East Bengal 3-1 at the Fatorda Stadium on Friday. Mohun Bagan tallied 39 points from 18 outings to take another step closer to claiming the League winner’s shield.
ATKMB produced a blitz of attacks in the first quarter of the action pinning East Bengal back to defending for a great part. The Mariners utilised the early advantage to garner the lead which came off its most prolific striker Roy Krishna in the 15th minute.
The Fijian forward showed his class latching on to a long 60-yard pass from his defensive colleague Tiri, who floated the ball from the Mohun Bagan box, and produced a fantastic solo finishing.
13th goal
This was Krishna’s 13th goal of the tournament which definitely helped Mohun Bagan position itself for another successful finishing. East Bengal tried to regroup with its mercurial forward Bright Enobakhare producing some magic in the middle of the park. The Nigerian was spectacular with his skills on a few occasions but that could not provide the reward East Bengal was looking for.
Equaliser
East Bengal managed the equaliser in the 41st minute but it was Bagan defender Tiri who nodded his attempted clearance on a long throw from Raju Gaekwad into his own goal. Bagan, which beat East Bengal 2-0 in the first phase, unleashed its true self after the break as it relaunched its bid to regain the lead.
Bagan kept mounting the pressure on East Bengal with a multi-pronged onslaught and the latter’s defence yielded to the pressure in the 72nd minute. David Williams produced the finish when Krishna set him up with a nice assist on top of the East Bengal box.
Bagan took the match past East Bengal’s reach in the 89th minute when Krishna came in the provider’s role once again to help substitute Javi Hernandez nod home a spectacular goal.
The result:
ATK Mohun Bagan 3 (Roy Krishna 15, David Williams 72, Javi Hernandez 89) bt SC East Bengal (Tiri 41-og).
Saturday’s match: Jamshedpur FC vs Mumbai City FC.
