New Delhi: Subrata Bhattacharya’s team did justice to their heavy transfer spending by beating title contenders Mohun Bagan 3-2 in their opening game of the I-League.
A penalty from Edmilson canceled out Marcos’s opener in the first half. In the second half a brace from Josimar gave Chirag a two goal lead but Masih pulled one back for Bagan.
The first real action of the game came just after six minutes when Brazilian defender Eduardo Coelho was booked for a rash challenge from behind on Edeh Chidi. The duo was involved in an altercation in the IFA Shield semi which resulted in a red card for the Nigerian striker.
Ishfaq Ahmed, who was playing his first match of the season had a great chance when he found himself one on one with Sandip Nandy after a good diagonal pas from James Singh. The Kashmiri tried to get the ball past Nandy but the Chirag keeper got a hand to it and evaded the danger.
Chirag had a golden opportunity few minutes later when Brazilian striker Edmilson was well picked out by a Jayanta Sen long ball but the former East Bengal striker delayed which allowed Rakesh Masih to make the block.
Two minutes later, Edeh Chidi broke the offside trap after a defence splitting pass by Marcos Pereira. The Nigerian went past Nandy but his shot was blocked by defender Manas Das on the goal line.
Bagan took the resulting corner short with Ishfaq and Marcos exchanging passes. The Brazilian then sent in a teasing cross into the box which bounced in front of Nandy and found its way into the Chirag net to give Karim Bencherifa’s men the lead.
Sandip Nandy had another nervous moment a little bit later when he came out from his goal but failed to collect Marcos’s freekick which was flicked on by Chidi for Ishfaq. The Kashmiri found the empty net but Chidi had used his hand so the goal was disallowed.
The Mariners sufferd a huge blow when their talisman felt an inury and had to be replaced by young Branco Cardozo.
Meanwhile, Chirag started seeing the ball a lot more and were having their best spell of the match with both wingers Malswamtulunga and Gouranga Biswas looking dangerous. But they were lacking the cutting edge with both Edmilson and Josimar looking unconvincing.
However in the 33rd minute Malswamtulunga’s pass into the Bagan box had a few ricochets and fell to the path of Edmilson, who went past Sangram and then was brought down by the Bagan captain. Referee Pratap Singh pointed to the spot and booked the Bagan keeper. Edmilson picked himself up and converted the spot kick to score on his debut and bring Chirag level.
The artificial turf was clearly producing an entertaining encounter with both sides having a go but just like the IFA Shield semi, Bagan were reduced to ten men when Indian international Surkumar Singh was sent off for a horrible looking challenge on Gouranga Biswas.
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Chirag piled on the pressure for the remainder of the first half but Bencherifa’s men held on to go into the halftime break all square.
Five minutes into the second half Du came close for Chirag as his header from a Manas Das corner wasn’t far away from goal.
Ten-man Bagan were playing on the break and Chidi nearly gave them the lead as he cut inside and found the side netting with a ferocious right footed effort.
A little bit later, Edmilson found himself one on one with Sangram but the Bagan custodian came out and cleared the danger.
A minute later Josimar gave Chirag the lead after he headed in a superb Malswamtulunga cross from the left flank. The Brazilian striker hurt himself in the process but soon recovered and had another chance when Mama’s through ball gave him a clear sight of goal but he failed to hit the target.
Josimar would make amends in the next attack as he coolly slotted the ball into the net in a one on one situation after being played through by Chirag skipper Denson Devadas.
With a two goal advantage, Chirag decided to take off Edmilson but Bagan kept fighting and nearly pulled one back through Chidi when another Sandip Nandy spill gave the Nigerian a golden chance. The former Mahindra striker could only force a corner and from the resulting flag kick Rakesh Masih scored with a free header to reduce the deficit.
Chirag also took off Josimar and started playing with a five man midfield. Suddenly their numerical advantage wasn’t showing as Bencherifa’s men kept piling on the pressure.
Chidi was at fault again for missing another good chance which resulted from a Mohanraj long throw. Kulothungan almost got on the end of a deflected Marcos Pereira freekick but Nandy finally made a clean collection.
There was another disallowed goal when Marcos’s effort was ruled out for offside which increased the frustration of the home fans.
In the end Chirag held on for three valuable points while Mohun Bagan just like last season start with a defeat.
Goalscorers: Marcos Pereira (Mohun Bagan) 16', Edmilson (pen) (Chirag United) 34', Josimar da Silva (Chirag United) 67', 69', Rakesh Masih (Mohun Bagan) 74'
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