I-League Media Team

KOLKATA: Mohun Bagan rode second-half goals from Sehnaj Singh and Sony Norde to beat Sporting Clube de Goa 2-0 in the Hero I-League encounter played in Barasat today evening.

Sanjoy Sen made a solitary change in the starting line-up with marquee player Pierre Boya returning to the line-up in place of Jeje Lalpekhlua. On the other hand, Mateus Costa included Sandesh Jhingan in place of Biswajit Saha as the towering defender returned to the side after a short absence.

Under very hot and humid conditions, the match started in a stealthy pace, with both the teams trying to feed their tall strikers with long balls. However, the ploy was of little use as the defenses of both the teams stood tall.

Mohun Bagan had an array of corners after the 13th minute of the game. While the first corner was fisted by Ravi, the second hit Sandesh’s leg and missed the target by a yard before going out for another corner. The third one was taken short and Sony’s cross at the fat post was met by Boya, but he couldn’t keep his header on target.

In the 38th minute of the game, Boya and Pritam exchanged passes on the right flank before the latter sent in a cross to the Sporting box. However, Clemente Joseph showed his alertness and pulled off a timely block to thwart Sony’s effort.

The best chance of the half went Odafa’s way in the 42nd minute. After being supplied with a sublime through ball from the midfield, the striker took a neat first touch to leave the Bagan defense clueless. However, he failed to keep his shot on target as his left-footed curler went well above the desired destination.

The teams went back down the tunnel with the score-line still goalless, after a half of football which was also witness to a water break.

Mohun Bagan finally broke the deadlock in the 65th minute, when Sehnaj Singh unleashed a powerful free-kick. Boya was brought down almost 30 yards out of the goal and the former Mumbai FC midfielder’s grounder left Ravi Kumar hapless to go into the net.

Sony Norde joined the party in the 77th minute when he cut inside from the left flank and took a shot that doubled the lead despite a feeble touch from Ravi.

Bagan had another couple of glorious chances, but Balwant Singh was particularly off-colour and couldn’t convert any of those.

On the other hand, Sporting didn’t have any clear-cut opportunity and was denied by Shilton at least thrice when they resorted to long-rangers.

With this win, Bagan open a three point gap at the top of the table, with Bengaluru FC taking the field later in the evening.

Hero of The Match: Sony Norde (MMB)