FC Goa closed the gap with top-placed Mohun Bagan Super Giant after a flawless 2-0 win against Chennaiyin FC in their Indian Super League match on Saturday. The Gaurs are placed second in the table with 33 points after this win, cutting the gap with the top-positioned Mohun Bagan Super Giant (37) to four points. The loss also extended Chennaiyin FC’s winless run to six games, having last tasted a victory in the ISL during their 1-0 win against Hyderabad FC on December 11.

FC Goa held total control over this game, keeping 58.6% of the possession and taking eight shots on target as opposed to none of Chennaiyin FC.

Iker Guarrotxena got FC Goa ahead in the game with his sharp awareness inside the six-yard box.

Following a corner, Boris Singh received the ball on the right flank. Boris curled in a cross that was mishandled by Chennaiyin FC goalkeeper Mohammed Nawaz.

Brison Fernandes lapped upon the chance but his shot ricocheted off the woodwork, and Guarrotxena picked up the loose ball and hammered it into the high centre of the goal in the 11th minute.

Nawaz partly redeemed himself six minutes later, as Aakash Sangwan burst into the box following a fast break by the Gaurs and shot firmly from a narrow angle on the left side.

Nawaz was forced to make an outstretched dive to get his hand at the end of the shot to save his side from conceding another strike. Sangwan did get the better of Nawaz in the 26th minute though, this time, from an even more difficult angle.

The gameplay seemed straight out of the training ground of the Gaurs, as Guarrotxena enabled them to build pressure on the Chennaiyin FC defence.

Abruptly, he broke that passage of play by making a backward pass to Carl McHugh. Unmarked, McHugh played a lobbed ball over the Chennaiyin FC backline for Sangwan, who took a deft touch before castling the ball into the bottom left corner by beating Nawaz on the near post.

FC Goa stepped up the intensity following their second goal, embracing a more proactive outlook in dabbling with multiple ways to test the Chennaiyin FC defence. Guarrotxena operated right down the middle and encountered a chance to triple the lead in the 31st minute.

In a pocket of space with no Chennaiyin FC players around him, he unleashed a thunderous shot directed on target that had to be saved by Nawaz in the top centre of the goal.

While the Gaurs orchestrated multiple incisive attacking moves, Chennaiyin FC struggled to create meaningful chances. FC Goa operated seamlessly in tandem from back to front, with the defence building up attacks and the midfield propelling them to sustain that for reasonable periods of time.

The Marina Machans, however, had a chance to pull a goal back in the 69th minute. Connor Shields, the leading assist maker (8) in the league, sprinted down the right flank before hurling in a cross for Wilmar Jordan Gil at the centre of the FC Goa box.

Wilmar got into a complicated position in his attempt to get the ball down. He instead squared it up for Farukh Choudhary beside him. With ample space to target the net, Farukh ended up striking his shot way too high of the goal. PTI AH AM AH AM AM

Riding on Jamie Maclaren’s record second-minute goal, Mohun Bagan Super Giant extended their dominance in the Kolkata derby with a 1-0 win over traditional rivals East Bengal FC in their Indian Super League match in Guwahati on Saturday. The match was moved to the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium after the Bidhannagar Police, under whose jurisdiction the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata falls, cited concerns over inadequate security because of the ongoing Gangasagar Mela. Jamie Maclaren scored the fastest goal of the Kolkata derby in ISL and it was enough for the reigning champions to see out their arch-rivals, while going eight points clear (35) at the top of the table, compared to the second-placed Bengaluru FC (27).

The Mariners have now won nine times and drawn once in their 10 derby clashes against East Bengal FC in the ISL.

The Mariners started the game strongly as Maclaren handed them the early lead in the second minute.

The East Bengal FC backline was caught off-guard as Asish Rai’s long ball found Maclaren in space. After receiving the ball, he lost his marker and slotted it past an onrushing Prabhsukhan Gill without any difficulty.

Around the sixth minute mark, it was East Bengal FC’s turn to attack and they did get two great opportunities to equalise through PV Vishnu and Cleiton Silva. But, both the players weren’t clinical enough as they saw their attempts get blocked.

In the 21st minute, the Mariners almost doubled their lead when Maclaren found Manvir Singh with a telling cross. However, the latter’s shot was straight at Gill with the entire goal found gaping.

East Bengal FC gained a lot of momentum as the first half came to a close with the likes of Jeakson Singh, Vishnu and Cleiton getting on the ball in the final third and creating problems for the Mohun Bagan Super Giant backline. However, they weren’t clinical enough to end the first half on level terms.

The second half was extremely cagey with the Mariners enjoying the lion’s share of possession, but they weren’t able to break down East Bengal FC’s resolute defence. Whereas, Oscar Bruzon’s men were looking to hit the Mariners with their gritty counter-attacks. But there weren’t many chances of note in the first quarter of the second half.

Things took a drastic turn in the 64th minute when Souvik Chakrabarti brought down Liston Colaco near the penalty area, only to receive his second yellow card followed by subsequent marching orders.

With one goal down, East Bengal FC were now chasing the game with 10 men. As a retaliation, Bruzon brought on Naorem Mahesh Singh in place of David Lalhlansanga with the hope of solidifying the midfield.

In the 75th minute, Jose Molina freshened things up as he replaced Jason Cummings with Greg Stewart. He almost made an immediate impact when he released Liston on the left flank, but his subsequent effort was blocked by Gill.

Just like in the first half, East Bengal FC were on the ascendancy for the final 10 minutes in the second half and therefore the likes of Dimitrios Petratos and Deepak Tangri came on late in the game with the hope of closing out the match.

The Red & Golds threw bodies forward in the last few minutes of the game but they lacked quality in the final third to break through the defence of the Mariners as they continued their near-perfect record in the fixture.

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Mohun Bagan Super Giant will play East Bengal FC in the Kolkata Derby of the Indian Super League (ISL) 2024-25 at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati on Saturday. The Mariners will look to extend their dominant record over their city rivals, having won eight out of the nine encounters between the two teams in ISL history, with the Red & Gold Brigade yet to record a victory against Mohun Bagan Super Giant in the competition. Mohun Bagan Super Giant are sitting comfortably at the top of the table, boasting an impressive record of 22 goals scored against East Bengal FC. Their attacking unit, led by Dimitrios Petratos, Manvir Singh, Liston Colaco, Jamie Maclaren, and Jason Cummings has been one of the most relentless in the league, with a goal-scoring average of 2.4 goals per game against their city rivals, their second-highest against any opponent.

Additionally, the Mariners have been solid defensively, with their total goals conceded against East Bengal FC (5) being the least they have given away against any team with whom they have played at least twice. With both teams eyeing important points, Mohun Bagan Super Giant will be looking to maintain their unbeaten streak, while East Bengal FC will be hoping to break their arch-rivals’ stronghold and avoid another loss.

Mohun Bagan Super Giant have recorded a 79.2% passing accuracy against East Bengal FC in the ISL, which is their second-best against any opponent behind the 82.5% they have registered against Punjab FC. East Bengal FC will have to discover a way to break down the cohesiveness in the Mariners’ passing patterns to not let them orchestrate the flow of the proceedings.

The Mariners will be targeting their fourth league double against East Bengal FC in the ISL. Against no other team have they scaled this feat more times in the competition (also NEUFC – 3 league doubles in 2021-22, 2023-24, 2024-25). Mohun Bagan Super Giant have netted in each of their nine ISL encounters against East Bengal FC.

East Bengal FC have struck the third-least goals (16) in the ISL 2024-25. They have thus strengthened their frontline by signing Venezuelan striker Richard Celis until the end of the season. Celis, 28, has represented clubs such as Atletico Venezuela CF, Deportivo JBL, Caracas FC and Academia Puerto Cabello, and can play down the centre as well as through the left flank, arguably making up for the absence of attacking midfielder Madih Talal. Whether Celis plays any part in this match remains to be seen though.

Mohun Bagan Super Giant head coach Jose Molina played down their impressive track record against East Bengal FC in the ISL.

“What we did in the ISL so far doesn’t matter in tomorrow’s game. We need to perform well, defeat them in the 90 minutes tomorrow on the pitch,” he said.

East Bengal FC head coach Oscar Bruzon backed his players to perform well in the Kolkata Derby.

“We have to optimise the resources that are available to us and we have full confidence in the players who will take the field to play in the Kolkata Derby,” he said.

Mohun Bagan Super Giant beat Kerala Blasters 3-2 to register their fifth consecutive home win and cement their top spot in the Indian Super League (ISL) points table here on Saturday. Despite holding 56.5 percent of the possession, the Mariners required two late goals to secure all three points from this fixture. The Mariners now have 26 points from 11 matches with the help of eight victories and two draws to be at the top of table. Kerala Blasters FC opened the game on an assertive note, with their frontline duo of Noah Sadaoui and Jesus Jimenez teasing the Mohun Bagan Super Giant defence within the first five minutes.

Whilst Noah tried to strike home from outside of the box in the second minute, Jimenez made an attempt at goal from inside the box with his left foot, which was saved by Vishal Kaith in the fourth minute.

That didn’t deter Kerala Blasters from discovering options upfront, as their entire midfield worked cohesively to knock doors at the Mariners’ backline. Pritam Kotal sprinted ahead with quick pace and curled in a cross for Danish Farooq inside the box, but the latter’s shot landed off target past the right post.

Subhasish Bose joined in the attacking moves for the hosts, teaming up with Liston Colaco in the 18th minute, who laid up an accurate pass for the defender on the left side of the 18-yard box. Bose had a good opportunity to score in his 100th ISL appearance for the Mariners, but his shot lacked the pace to find its way past Sachin Suresh.

The home side’s moment of reckoning came in the 33rd minute though, as Asish Rai unleashed a powerful shot from distance that was stopped by Sachin, but the rebound fell in Jamie Maclaren’s path, who comfortably slotted it into the bottom left corner to help them secure the first goal of the match.

Increasingly, Kerala Blasters were finding it difficult to construct well-coordinated attacking moves. Jimenez took matters in his own hands in the 51st minute, and Adrian Luna simultaneously helped him by pressing high on the Mohun Bagan Super Giant defence, helping the visitors recover possession.

Jimenez didn’t take too much time on the ball, hammering it into the bottom left corner from the outside of the 18-yard box upon taking a quick, deft touch and equalising the scores.

Sadaoui sprung into action following this move, hoping to get another goal in the favour of the Kochi-based team by riding the momentum in their favour.

In the following 15-odd minutes, he hit the target multiple times, most notably in the 67th minute from outside of the box. Despite the distance, his shot was well directed into the bottom right corner, but kept at bay by Kaith.

Kerala Blasters were successful in their effort of breaching past the Mariners’ defence in the 77th minute. They pushed up numbers during a set piece and Milos Drincic was placed perfectly to drill the ball into the high centre of the goal in a crowded Mohun Bagan Super Giant box to get the visitors a late advantage.

That opened the floodgates for an onslaught from the Mariners, as Jason Cummings came off the bench in the 80th minute. His partnership with Dimitrios Petratos has been lethal upfront and Saturday was no different, with the latter squaring up a pass for Cummings deep inside the box that was netted into the bottom left corner by the striker to bring the scores back to level terms in the 86th minute.

The Mariners kept pushing forward, earning free-kicks and corners alike. In the added time of the second half, Kerala Blasters defence was unable to clear their lines after a corner and Alberto Rodriguez, placed outside the 18-yard area, trusted his instincts to launch a shot into the bottom left corner to bag their third goal of the night, and notch all three points for the home side.

File image of Mohun Bagan Super Giants.© Mohun Bagan

Mohun Bagan asserted their dominance in the season’s first derby, securing a comprehensive 2-0 victory over East Bengal, propelling them to second place in the Indian Super League standings on Saturday. In front of a packed 59,872 attendance at the Salt Lake Stadium, Jamie Maclaren broke the deadlock in the 41st minute, finishing calmly at the near post after exploiting a poor defensive positioning by Anwar Ali and a mistimed slide from Hector Yuste.

Substitute Dimitri Petratos sealed the win in the 89th minute, converting a powerful penalty after East Bengal goalkeeper Prabhsukhan Singh Gill brought down Greg Stewart inside the box.

With their third win in five matches, Mohun Bagan moved to second, just three points behind leaders Bengaluru FC.

In contrast, East Bengal, under the new guidance of Oscar Bruzon, were unable to spark a revival and extended their losing streak in ISL to four matches, leaving them rooted to the bottom of the table without a point.

East Bengal also extended their winless run to nine matches in ISL derbies, suffering eight defeats and one draw.

Early in the third minute, Manvir Singh’s cross was cleared by Yuste, averting an early danger for East Bengal.

Around the 13th minute, EB had their first real chance when Yuste lofted a ball over the top to David Hmar, who laid it off for Nandha Kumar and his cross found Cleiton Silva. But the resulting header was easily saved by Vishal Kaith.

Subhasish Bose’s follow-up effort was blocked by the MB defense, as East Bengal struggled to capitalise on their chances.

Mohun Bagan appeared to have taken the lead in the 19th minute when Manvir headed in from a short corner, but the goal was ruled out for offside.

EB responded in the 26th minute with a close chance as Nandha played Saul Crespo through on the right.

Crespo’s cutback found Madih Talal inside the box, but his first-time shot drifted narrowly wide of the post.

Gill, the East Bengal goalkeeper, was called into action multiple times, making crucial saves, including a superb one in the 25th minute when he tipped away a header from Manvir at the near post.

Just before half-time, Maclaren’s clinical finish finally put MB ahead, capitalising on poor defending from East Bengal to give his team a deserved 1-0 lead heading into the break.

The Australian forward was brilliantly set up from the right by Manvir Singh, who latched onto a Stewart pass from the midfield to deliver a low cross for Maclaren to tap home.

Maclaren’s goal came as no surprise as he continued his fine form after scoring in the previous 3-0 win over Mohammedan Sporting.

Despite East Bengal’s flashes of attacking play, Mohun Bagan remained dominant with 47 per cent first-half possession.

EB had their chances, with captain Cleiton’s header but Vishal Kaith stood tall in goal for Mohun Bagan.

In the second-half, Mohun Bagan maintained control, adding a second goal late in the game.

Though East Bengal pushed hard for an equaliser, MB’s defence held firm.

In the 84th minute, controversy arose when Stewart was brought down in the box by Ali, but the referee waved play on, deeming it a fair challenge, frustrating the MB camp.

The match’s decisive moment came in the 88th minute when Stewart played a beautiful ball to Petratos, who was tripped by East Bengal goalkeeper Gill, resulting in a penalty.

Petratos delivered a thunderous strike, firing the ball with pinpoint power to his left.

Gill, fully stretched and diving in the same direction, was left helpless as the bullet-like power of the strike ensured that the ball reached the back of the net, sealing a dominant win.

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