MBSG clinch the IFA Shield after 22 years with a 5-4 win in the tie-breaker Pratyusha Jana
Pratyusha Jana: Mehtab Singh’s winner in the tie-breaker guided Mohun Bagan Super Giants to clinch the IFA Shield after a span of 22 years, defeating arch-rivals East Bengal in the tie-breaker by 5-4 at the Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday. Before Mehtab, Robson Robinho, Manveer Singh, Liston Colaco, and Petratos scored for MBSG, while East Bengal scorers were Miguel, Kevin Sibille, Mahesh Singh, and Jay Gupta. The 90 minutes’ regulation time and 30 minutes’ stoppage time ended 1-1. Hamid Ahadad drew first blood for the Red-and-Gold brigade in the 36th minute, while Apuia equalized for MBSG in the three minutes’ stoppage time of the first half. Otherwise, the story of the season’s third Kolkata Derby featured a missed penalty, several missed chances. The nail-biting battle was vivid till the end of the extra time. Both teams fought hard, displayed an attacking brand of football, but missed chances, and some inspiring saves from both the custodians kept the score line 1-1 till the end. East Bengal fans might have been expecting some magic on the day from their Japanese surprise, Hiroshi Ibusiki whose first match was Saturday’s Derby. He almost gave his team the desired lead in the 67th minute, executed an accurate header of Miguel free-kick, but MBSG custodian Vishal Kaith thwarted with a clinical save off the header. Mohun Bagan’s lead also might have been solidified in the 34th minute, if not for Cummings’s missed penalty. After the break, the Australian forward goes down by Anwar Ali, giving a penalty point to Ali. However, Cummings missed the penalty as Gill caught it without any trouble. In the second minute, Rashid passed Mahesh on his left, who drove the ball into the final third. Mahesh delivered a low cross that the Moroccan pounced on, neatly guiding it into the net. With Kaith stepping out, the Bagan defense was left exposed. The second half came with many significant changes, although none could transform the match’s course. From EBFC’s side, P V Vishnu came, taking the place of Edmund in the 51st minute. Along with Jay Gupta, Hiroshi Ibusuki, Miguel, taking the field for Lalghungnunga, Hamid Ahadad, and Saul Crespo, respectively. Quite shockingly, the Mariners stayed rigid on their protest. In the first half, it showed many tifos and chants; however, it went silent in the second half. Along with the banners and tifos were nowhere to be found. However, at the 90+4’, the heartbeat of all was clearly audible, the free kick from Robson found Mehtab Singh. He rose and hit the ball towards the post, it hit Gill’s fingertips, and it changed the direction, saving East Bengal from their evident defeat. Clearly, it was the derby’s most thrilling save.
Derby result cannot be predicted, MBSG foreigners are a little ahead of EB foreigners: Suley Musa
Sudeep Pakrashi: Suley Musa believes Mohun Bagan Super Giants’ foreigners are slightly ahead of East Bengal’s new foreigners on paper, ahead of the forthcoming derby in the IFA Shield final, scheduled to be held on 18th October on Saturday. East Bengal’s former Ghanaian defender, who had an illustrious career with the Red-and-Gold jersey from 1998 to 2004, being the team’s captain in the ASEAN Club championship explained, “The Result of the Derby between these two arch-rivals can never be predicted. But, talking about the difference between the teams, I feel the foreigners of MBSG look slightly ahead of East Bengal’s newly roped-in foreigners. Footballers like Jamie Maclaren, Jason Cummings, and Dimitri Petratos are already experienced, participating in Derby. On the contrary, East Bengal’s newly-recruited foreigners, though good in quality, are yet to gain the experience, playing in a Derby.” When asked whether East Bengal’s Brazilian midfielder Miguel Figueira could play a crucial role in the match, Musa revealed, “He is a quality footballer. He has an accurate passing ability. He can hold on to the ball. But all these qualities have been observed in the Durand Cup. Can you compare Sreenidi Deccan and Namdhari FC defenders with MBSG foreigners? So, East Bengal foreigners will have the real test in the final and winning the derby always depends on the match fitness and mental strength.” However, the 31-year-old defender believes Saturday’s IFA Shield final will play an important role for Red-and-Gold brigade’s Spanish coach Oscar Bruzon to make an assessment of his foreigners as well as the team before leaving for Goa to participate in the forthcoming Super Cup, starting from 23rd October.
Mohun Bagan SG start IFA Shield campaign with fans’ ‘Protest’ at Kishore Bharati Stadium
Pratyusha Jana: Mohun Bagan Super Giant (MBSG) fans expressed their “SHAME” with protest TIFOs, making their disorientation and dissatisfaction clear. Police quickly intervened, seizing the banners and escorting the small group of protesters to a different stadium. Later, at the game, the fans reignited their protest, shouting the “Go Back” slogan along with banners written “Cowards Management”. Throughout the first 30 minutes, the protesting slogan continued, leaving no hesitation about the dissatisfaction of the fans. Despite the intensity of this action, the overall protest was smaller than expected. The more significant form of fan displeasure is anticipated to be a nearly empty gallery during MBSG’s first IFA Shield match. The fans’ continuous protest in social media and agitations before the club premises made it visibly clear that Mohun Bagan Super Giants will face the backlash from the Mariners for their withdrawal from the AFC Champions League Two (ACL Two) competition for a second consecutive season. MBSG’s withdrawal from the League came as they failed to travel to Iran, citing security concern for their foreign players; however, the move backfired as they now face a multi-year ban and hefty fine from the authority.
East Bengal thrash Sreenidi in IFA Shield opener
Pratyusha Jana: The historical IFA Shield kicked off with a rather easy 4-0 win for East Bengal FC. EBFC glided through the match with four foreigners against all the sons of soil. On Wednesday, East Bengal FC faced the Sreenidi Deccan Football Club, in Kalyani Stadium almost from the beginning of the match they showcased their attacking stance, so much so East Bengal’s goalkeeper Debjit Majumder was never tested throughout the match 90 minutes. The 4-3-4 formation for EBFC never acknowledged any shot from SNFC throughout the debut match of IFA Shield. The first remarkable attack from EBFC came only in the seventh minute however it was ruled off due to being offside. East Bengal’s attacking stance didn’t seem to be ruled down; rather in the 17th minute Miguel Ferreira, Hamid Ahadad , TH Bipin Singh attempted another strategic attack, while missing the goal. Regardless, the first few saves East Bengal opened their scorebook at just 22 minutes into the game, as Hamid Ahadad’s foul led to a free kick by Miguel Ferreira while Adhil Faizal could save the first hit the second hit from Jay Gupta led to the opening net for the day. TH Bipin Singh while not able to score any net brilliantly assisted two of the remarkable nets for EBFC. East Bengal FC dominated the game with a convincing performance against Sreenidi Deccan. The second goal came through a brilliant cross from Bipin, which found Saul Crespo, who headed it home in the 38th minute. In the second half, Sreenidi Deccan struggled to regain momentum, while East Bengal continued their attacking rhythm. Bipin once again played a crucial role, providing an assist that allowed Hamid Ahadad to find the net in the 46th minute. The final goal for East Bengal FC came just five minutes later. From Crespo’s precise corner, Thounaojam Jeakson Singh rose above the defenders to head the ball in, sealing a dominant victory for EBFC by the 51st minute.
Ifa tries to conduct senior level IFA Shield after two years
Ifa plans to revamp the century-old Ifa shield. If everything goes the right way, after Durga Puja again, MBSG and East Bengal will face each other before the Super Cup. This time Ifa shield will be senior level tournament. Already the Indian Football Association had sought permission from Aiff. Ifa wants to get back the glory of this tournament again. Ifa secretary Anirban Dutta, sounds very much positive about this tournament. He told us, We had send a letter to the All India Football Federation and seek their permission for this tournament. Super will start on 25th October, so we have decided to commence this IFA Shield from the first week of October. We are very hopeful that three big clubs from Kolkata will participate in this tournament, and primarily we had reached few other clubs in India. They had shown their interest to participate. It will be a six-team tournament. Although Aiff does not give their green signal to Ifa officially, it’s been learned that verbally they had given their permission for this century-old tournament.
