A green and maroon hue sailed across the electronic scoreboard of the Salt Lake Stadium from one stand to another before fading into the air. The colour of this marquee Durand Cup quarter final on Sunday though remained green and maroon right through as a smart Mohun Bagan Super Giant ensured it never faded.
Mohun Bagan’s attacking game prevailed for a good part of the contest, helping them make short work of Mumbai City FC with a comprehensive 3-1 win to advance to the semi-finals of the competition, where they will now face FC Goa on Thursday. Bagan also recorded their first victory over Mumbai City in their fledgling rivalry.
Jason Cummings, Manvir Singh, who even played the role of a defender on quite a few occasions, and Anwar Ali were on target for Mohun Bagan to confirm their berth in the last-four stage. Pereyra Diaz scored the lone goal for Mumbai City, who looked scrappy for most of the game.
Of course, the script could well have been tougher for Mohun Bagan had Mumbai City not been denied a clear penalty a little before the hour mark.
Anwar brought down Diaz, who was charging down the left. But referee Venkatesh R not just ruled in favour of Mohun Bagan, but also flashed the yellow card to the Mumbai City forward.
By no means one incident takes the sheen off Mohun Bagan’s well-deserved win though.
To be fair to them, Juan Ferrando’s men produced close to their A-game: a performance that was much better compared to how they had fared in the AFC Cup playoff stage clash against Abahani Limited Dhaka last week.
The majority of their attacking moves were well orchestrated, while the blocking and snatching bit from their defence against a really strong unit certainly bodes well for Ferrando’s team going forward in the season.
It took Mohun Bagan less than 10 minutes into the start to go ahead. Ashique Kuruniyan, taking good care of the left flank, slipped in a through for Cummings, who was tripped by the Mumbai City goalie which prompted the referee to point to the dreaded spot.
Cummings’ left-footer after the seventh-minute penalty made it 1-0 in favour of Mohun Bagan, who were controlling the game well. But all of a sudden, one rare defensive lapse from Anwar and Anirudh Thapa enabled Alberto Noguera and Greg Stewart play a one-two and set it up for Diaz, who chested home for the equaliser.
Parity remained for barely a minute or two as at the half-hour mark, Manvir outjumped his marker to head home an inch-perfect Hugo Boumous cross from the left.
Leading 2-1 at the halfway stage, Mohun Bagan did appear subdued in the early stages of the second half. But they didn’t take much time to reorganise and even doubled their lead which practically sealed the game.
Kuruniyan, this time moving on to the right, bisected two opposition defenders and floated one in for Anwar, whose smart header as good as confirmed Mohun Bagan’s victory.
Truly, a deserving one.
