Kolkata : After finishing their campaign in the Durand quarter-finals, Mohun Bagan entered the Kolkata League on Thursday. The opponent was Suruchi Sangha. Suruchi is in excellent form in the current domestic league. Degi Cardozo’s boys fell behind and drew with Suruchi at the Naihati Stadium. The result of the game was 1-1.
Karan Rai, Pasang Dorji Tamang, Liwan Kastana, Roshan Singh failed to show their dominance on this day. They could not play as expected. The lack of understanding among themselves or the lack of coordination between the midfield and strikers was repeatedly noticed. Suruchi Sangha took advantage of the opportunity and went ahead. Just before the end of the first half (45’+3′), Joseph Hakip scored for Suruchi. Suruchi Sangha ended the first half leading 1-0.
Degi Cardozo’s men had to come out of their shell in the second half to come back into the match. But Ranjan Bhattacharya’s men did not give up an inch of ground. Suruchi’s defenders practically neutralized all the attacks of the green and maroon by keeping the defense strong. Looking ahead to ACL 2, Dipendu Biswas, Abhishek Suryavanshi, Suhel Bhatt were not played in this match. Salahuddin was also absent due to injury. Their absence certainly became an important issue for Mohun Bagan.
Shortly before the end of the scheduled time, Mohun Bagan equalized through a goal by Tushar Bishwakarma in the 87th minute. Despite playing energetic football after getting the goal, the green and maroons could not increase the gap. After the match ended in a draw, Mohun Bagan remained sixth in the points table with 11 points from 7 matches. On the other hand, Suruchi Sangha moved up to third place with 16 points from 8 matches.
