The Indian Super League has just seen an absolute stunner between Mohun Bagan Super Giants and Punjab FC. Before coming into the Mariners has not been able to win the last three matches, they drew two games and lost one. On the other hand, the Punjab FC’s great run from the last few matches has been dismantled on Sunday evening at the mecca of Indian football. Kolkata police had permitted only 17,000 seats for the Sunday clash. On the eve of the weekend, 12,222 audience had come to watch the late surge of Mohun Bagan.
Mohun Bagan had not started well in this match; they were not in a good rhythm at the beginning. After a while, Punjab FC, who are in a good rhythm, used the weakness of Mohun Bagan and played attacking football all the way. Samir Zeljkovic attacked the first shot in the 10th minute of the game. After that, Daniel Ramirez again attacked and gave Punjab FC the first lead of the match.
The dramatic first half
In the 18th minute of the game, Alberto Rodriguez of Spain suffered an injury, and Mohun Bagan had to make two early tactical changes. Dimitri Petratos came in in place of Alberto, and Mehtab Singh joined the field in place of Manvir Singh. In the first half, Mohun Bagan failed to gain control of the ball and their passes were absolutely misplaced; the unavailability of Apuia has cost Mohun Bagan, the defence was looking weak, and Punjab FC was always on point in terms of attack.
Also Read । Blue Tigresses outclassed by Kenya, settle for third-place playoff in FIFA Series
Petratos started to create chances for Mohun Bagan, which gave a boost to the maroon and green brigades. Just a few minutes later, McLaren smashed the ball, assisted by Robson, into the net. Mohun Bagan created another chance in the late end of the half-time, but an offside ruled out the goal.
Jason Cummings and Sahal Samad give a wonderful end
Punjab FC surged their lead, scoring another goal. Effiong hit the ball into the net beautifully, just like in the first half. Mohun Bagan started the second half with no rhythm and looked really off colour. In the 69 minutes of the match, Robson suffered an injury, and Cummings came in his place. Sahal, who played 54 minutes in total this season, replaced Deepak Tangri. Coming into the field, Sahal sparked the field with his fire as he hit the assist of Dimitri Petratos from almost 30 yards distance, and it entered the box from the top right corner.
Also Read । Spurs turn to De Zerbi as ‘Ange-ball’ revival bid begins to avoid drop
After that, in the 79th minute, Punjab almost scored a goal, but an absolute stunner from Vishal Kaith saved the goal. Punjab again created a chance in the 86th minute, when Leon Augustine failed to score a goal.
The intense match got seven minutes of added time, and in the 90+1 minute, the result changed when Jason Cummings smashed the ball into the box from a corner, and it confirmed Mohun Bagan’s win. With the victory, Mohun Bagan went up to the second position with 17 points in 8 matches.
Mohun Bagan will face North East United on 19th April in Guwahati, and Punjab FC will face Inter Kashi in the next fixture on 20th April.
