In the match played yesterday between traditional rivals Mohun Bagan Super Giant and

East Bengal at the Vivekananda Yuva Bharati Krirangan (Salt Lake Stadium), The
Mariners won by a comfortable score in ongoing Indian Super League (ISL). Mohun
Bagan Super Giant maintained its unbeaten streak against arch-rival East
Bengal as it beat the Red-and-Gold Brigade 3-1 on Sunday. The former
went on to collect the full quota of points and reach the top of the current
standings with 36 points from 17 matches. Mohan Bagan and Mumbai
City FC have the same points (36) but the former, which has also played
a match less, took the top spot for having scored more goals. East
Bengal remained on 18 points from 19 matches.
East Bengal regretted captain Celiton’s Silva’s inability to place the ball
right from the spot in the 14th minute as Mohun Bagan goalkeeper
Vishal Kaith judged it right to keep East Bengal waiting for the break.

Mohun Bagan turned things around on its side from this point and
doubled its resolve to find the lead in the 27th minute when Jason
Cummings tapped home a rebound following a Dimitri Petratos effort
that was blocked by the East Bengal goalkeeper Prabhsukhan Gill.
Mohun Bagan maintained the intensity of the attacks and doubled the
lead in the 37th minute when Petratos set up Liston Colaco with a nice
pass for the latter to slot home.

Much like the first goal the second goal also spoke a lot about Petratos’
commitment as the Australian striker saw his first attempt coming off the
post. He gathered himself quickly to receive the rebound and set-up an
unmarked Liston to just place the ball home.
Mohun Bagan made it 3-0 from an injury-time penalty that was
converted by Petratos after Liston was brought down inside the box by
Nandhakumar Sekar. This virtually sealed the match in favour of Mohun
Bagan even though East Bengal made a valiant effort after the break
and pulled one back through Saul Crespo, who scored a world-class
goal in the 53rd minute. The Spaniard showed nice control as he
chested down a cross from Cleiton and shot home to bring up a fine
goal.
Mohun Bagan shook off its aggression and sought a retreat into a
defensive shell apparently happy with the lead. East Bengal coach
Carles Cuadrat brought in couple changes in form of the development
players P.V. Vishnu and Sayan Banerjee to induce the dynamism in its
attacks.
The effort bore fruit in the form of Cerspo’s early goal and got East
Bengal to mount a series of attacks putting Mohun Bagan defence
under relentless pressure.
Cleiton almost made it 3-2 in the 63rd minute but Vishal Kaith had the
defence against the Brazilian’s effort. The Mohun Bagan keeper dived to
his left to clear Cleiton’s header and kept the scoreline unaltered.

East Bengal made a strong claim for a penalty in the second-half injury
time when Vishnu seemed to have been brought down by the Mohun
Bagan midfielder Abhishek Suryawanshi but the referee sought to haul
up the East Bengal attacker for simulating a dive.
Final result: East Bengal 1 (Saul Crespo 53) lost to Mohun Bagan SG 3
(Jason Cummings 27, Liston Colaco 37, Dimitri Petratos 45+3-pen)