Mohun Bagan Super Giant beat Hyderabad FC 3-0 in the 85th match of the ongoing Indian Super League at the Salt Lake Stadium in Calcutta on Thursday, January 2. The Mariners dominated the game and rarely allowed their visitors to come onto the front foot.
This was the sixth straight occasion in which Mohun Bagan kept a clean sheet over the Nawabs in the ISL. This victory keeps them at the top of the league table with 32 points to their name, whereas Hyderabad kept struggling in the 11th position of the standings, having amassed just eight points so far this season.
Stefan Sapic’s own goal in the ninth minute gave the Mariners an early lead, but Tom Aldred managed to head the ball into the Hyderabad net in the 42nd minute to double their advantage. Australian-Scottish striker Jason Cummings netted Mohun Bagan’s third goal in the 51st minute to seal the deal.
In this piece, we take a look at three key takeaways from this match:
#3 Hyderabad’s poor defensive cohesion
Hyderabad seemed off the mark from the first minute of this game and suffered because of their lack of defensive cohesion. Captain Alex Saji took his time to come into the game. At the same time, his fellow center-back Stefan Sapic was almost directly, if unfortunately, responsible for conceding two out of the three goals.
Goalkeeper Arshdeep Singh’s handling was worrying for the Nawabs, and this is something that interim head coach Shameel Chembakath will be keen to work on. The former seemed more comfortable pushing the ball away than catching it when he was put under pressure and was lucky not to see it land into an opponent’s foot.
#2 Mohun Bagan’s link-up play
The home team deserved all three points they picked up today, and one must doff their hat off to the link-up and combination play they showcased. While midfielders Deepak Tangri and Anirudh Thapa were tasked to break up the passage of play whenever Hyderabad wished to accelerate, wingers Liston Colaco and Sahal Abdul Samad provided crosses and passes for their center-forwards to exploit.
The latter department, manned by Cummings and new signing Jamie Maclaren, was exquisite in its outlook, with the former even bagging a goal in the 51st minute to seal the deal for his club. Defenders Tom Aldred, Alberto Rodrigues, Asish Rai, and Subhasis Bose comfortably held the fort for Bagan on the odd occasion when Hyderabad attacked.
#1 Liston Colaco’s outstanding performance
Former Hyderabad winger Liston Colaco, now plying his trade for Mohun Bagan, was outstanding on the left-hand side of his club’s attacking lineup. Colaco seemed fired up to perform to the best of his potential against his ex-club and seemed supremely confident in passing the ball around and crossing it into the box.
The Goan was brilliant with the ball at his feet and drew fullback Abdul Rabeeh and Muhammad Rafi with him to create space. The way he outfoxed Rabeeh to set up Bagan’s first goal in the 9th minute of the game beggared belief. However, the 26-year-old will consider himself a tad unfortunate not to have scored a goal.
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