Two Kolkata-based clubs Bhawanipore FC and Mohammedan Sporting Club clashed against each other in a decider match at Kalyani Stadium.
Mohammedan SC has bagged 6 points from 2 matches after they opened their league campaign with a win over Garhwal FC. The Black Panthers followed it up with a 4-1 win over ARA FC under the guidance of young coach Yan Law. As Head-Coach Yan Law has parted ways with the club, assistance coach Saheed Ramon took over the post. While Bhawanipore FC defeated Bengaluru United FC by 2 – 0 on the opening day of the league, they also registered a win over Garhwal FC in the last match.
The line-ups were as follows –
Mohammedan SC starting XI-
Priyant Kumar Singh (GK), Kingsley Eze, Safiul Rahaman, Balwinder Singh, Hira Mondal, Suraj Rawat, Vanlalbiaa Chhangte, Firoj Ali, SK Faiaz, Willis Plaza, Singam Subhash Singh.
Substitutes –
Arijeet Singh, Abhishek Rijal, Gani Nigam, Sattyam Sharma, Sanjib Ghosh, Sujit Sadhu, Shamsad Ali, Munmun Lugun, Shubham Roy, Moinuddin.
Bhawanipore FC starting XI-
Shilton Paul (GK), Kinshuk Debnath, Arijit Bagui, Anup Raj, Enjamul Hoque, Monotosh Chakladar, Shubhankar Das, Pankaj Moula, Supriya Pandit, Philip Adjah.
Substitutes-
Dibyendu Sarkar, Avinabo Bag, Debanna Chakraborty, Gopi Singh, Monoranjan Singh, Jiten Maurma, Prosenjit Paul, Altamash Sayed, Yumkhaiban Singh.
Story of the match –
Bhawanipore FC kicked off the ball as the whistle blew. Right after that, in the 2nd minute of the match Mohammedan got a free-kick where Plaza shot the ball into the box towards Chhangte. Chhangte was unlucky as his shot was brilliantly saved by Bhawanipore FC’s goalkeeper Shilton Paul. Mohammedan SC kept the game alive by making short passes. Just before water break, Plaza rolled the ball towards Faiaz who slightly made a touch for a pass to Chhangte. Knowing the opportunity, without causing any mistakes, Chhangte found the net. Bhawanipore kept making efforts to take the ball to the final third, but couldn’t make it most of the time as they lacked creative midfielders in midfield.
The football action continued in the second half, where Bhawanipore kept their hope for a come back. Meanwhile, a substitution was made where young Gani Ahmmed Nigam was brought on in 65th minute. Philip Adjah made an astonishing shot towards Mohammedan goal post but couldn’t go beyond Priyant Singh. Gani Nigam doubled the lead for the Black Panthers in the 67th minute of the match. Bhawanipore tried their best to score goals but couldn’t score any. The defensive-midfielder Suraj Rawat of Mohammedan SC made a good impact in the game as he showed his presence by helping the defence at back and also by pushing forward in the attacking midfield to help the team.
As expected Mohammedan SC had possession of 54% while Bhawanipore FC had 46%. The number of shots taken by Bhawanipore was more than Mohammedan. They took 9 shots out of which only one was on target. Out of those 9 shots, 3 were of striker Adjah’s. Mohammedan took 6 shots and 4 were on target out of which 2 shots were of goal scorer V. Chhangte who was awarded the player of the match award.
A lot of fouls were committed, too. 23 fouls by Mohammedan while 11 were from Bhawanipore side. Balwinder Singh received a yellow card in BWFC while Philip Adjah and Arijit Bagui received them at MDSC.
After the match, the assistance coach Saheed Ramon said, “It is a special moment for the club as we have clinched the promotion to the I-league. In these situations of pandemic we have given our best to win and look forward to perform even better in the I-League.”
With a win in this match, Mohammedan Sporting Club has already booked their spot in the I-League top tier albeit having a match in hand to play against Bengaluru United FC on the 19th of October. They have topped the table with 6 goal difference and 9 points in the table which is impossible for Bhawanipore FC to surpass who will be playing against ARA FC in their upcoming match.
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