Bagan second best for second straight time

Ten-man Mohun Bagan brilliantly bounced back through a Darryl Duffy goal to down Chennai City FC 2-1 but the result was not enough as they had to settle for a runners-up finish for the second successive time in I-League football here on Sunday.

The Bagan-Chennai clash lived up to the expectation as there was high drama starting with the news that Aizawl conceded a ninth minute goal to leave the Rabindra Sarobar home crowd in a frenzy mode.

But in the 32nd minute, Mohun Bagan’s U-22 recruit Nanda Kumar silenced the crowd when he darted the ball and scored with a gentle push, showing good presence of mind.

What followed was some missed opportunities with Balwant at the receiving end, but Mohun Bagan finally scored the equaliser in the added time of first half through captain Katsumi Yusa.

Substitute Jeje Lalpekhlua got the better of Debabrata Roy on the right channel and a cross near the byline saw Duffy place it brilliantly from the first-timed shot to take Mohun Bagan ahead in the 77th minute.

But all hell broke loose for the home side when their promising custodian Debjit Majumder was red-carded two minutes later in a seemingly dubious decision when he thwarted Nandakumar Soosai Raj inside the box in what appeared a clean tackle.

Arguments and protests with referee Tejas Nagvenkar followed as Shibinraj Kunniyil came in for Majumder but Mohun Bagan held on to the lead till the end.