Bragging rights retained: East Bengal could not match Mohun Bagan’s might.
| Photo Credit: Focus Sports/ISL
Mohun Bagan SG beat its traditional rival East Bengal by a comfortable 3-1 margin in the return derby of ISL at the Salt Lake Stadium on Sunday, to reach the top of the current standings with 36 points from 17 matches.
East Bengal regretted captain Cleiton Silva’s inability to score from the spot in the 14th minute as Bagan goalkeeper Vishal Kaith judged it right to keep EBFC waiting for the break.
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 EBFC custodian Prabhsukhan Gill.
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.
MBSG made it 3-0 from an injury-time penalty that was converted by Petratos himself.
This virtually sealed the match for Bagan even though EBFC 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 result: East Bengal 1 (Saul Crespo 53) lost to Mohun Bagan SG 3 (Jason Cummings 27, Liston Colaco 37, Dimitri Petratos 45+3-pen).