Sporting's Samba Football Earns Them A Draw Against Mohun Bagan

07-Nov-2009


Sporting Clube de Goa produced a superb display of attacking football at home, but were held 2-2 by a below-par Mohun Bagan side. All four goals were scored in the first half, as Nathaniel Amos' opener was cancelled out by two Bagan goals, courtesy Branco Cardozo and Marcos Pereira. Man of the match Joseph Pereira then restored parity, and despite a wonderful second half performance, Shilton Paul and co. kept the home side out, ending the match all square.

Sporting were dominating the proceedings early on, but weren't creating any clear-cut chances. Amos showed some good skill in the 15th minute, going past Rakesh Masih on his own, but his left footed strike sailed over the bar.

However, the Bagan defence were slowly coming under pressure, and it got to them soon, as in the 23rd minute, Rakesh Masih headed a back pass straight into Nathaniel Amos' path, who went past the defender and curled in a superb strike from the edge of the area, giving Sporting the lead.

Bagan tried to make amends immediately, but Marcos' free kick a minute later went wide of the far post. Rakesh Masih clearly looked nervous after the goal, and was giving the ball away on numerous occasions. Michael Tayo was the beneficiary on one occasion, but he chose to run through the entire Bagan defence on his own, and Shilton cleared just in time.

But just when Bagan seemed to be losing confidence, they equalized through the impressive Branco Cardozo, who came up with a cool, loopy finish over Luis Barreto after Snehashish Chakraborty sent in an accurate cross from the left in the 33rd minute.

And three minutes later, Bagan had two glorious chances to take the lead, but Luis Barreto came up with two reflex saves with his legs. Cardozo played in Chidi with a sublime through ball, but the striker's powerful effort came off Barreto's legs into Cardozo's path, and his effort came off Barreto's legs again to go out for a corner.

It was all-action, as Amos almost scored his second in the 37th minute, as he turned nicely onto his left foot before having a go from 20 yards. The shot took a dangerous deflection, but bounced just wide of the near post, with Shilton Paul diving to his left.

However, it was Bagan who had taken control, and they took the lead in the 42nd minute, as James Singh played in Marcos with a delightful chipped ball, and the 36-year old made no mistake as he slotted past Luis Barreto to give his side the lead.

But the half got even better, and the defending poorer, as Sporting equalized with their very first attack after the goal, through Joseph Pereira. He received the ball from the left just inside the box, and took an early shot with the outside of his left boot, sending the ball into the goal just inside the far post.

One would have thought that was the last chance of the half, but Bagan could have taken the lead again, as Snehashish did well on the left again to send in a cross into the danger area, but Cardozo couldn't connect well with his header, flicking it on instead of heading it in.

Sporting made one change at half time, with Mathew Gonsalves coming on for Elvino Fernandes. Both sides started the half decently, with a couple of good moves from sporting whereas Bagan had the one chance through another Marcos Pereira free kick, which was wide of the far post.

Bagan then had the best chance of the second half till that point, as Chidi Edeh's pass was deflected into Cardozo's path, but Luis Barreto came up with another fine save when one-on-one with the striker.

That was to be the last bit of action for Cardozo, as Bencherifa replaced him with Suroj Mondal in the 57th minute. Two minutes later, Sporting conjured the move of the match down the right, and with a few one-twos later, Amos was free on the right. His cross to the box found Joseph Pereira, but his finely executed volley was straight at Shilton Paul.

The home side began looking dangerous in attack, as another good chance went begging, with Samananda Singh heading wide from a corner when he was under no pressure at all. 

And they had two more chances, but Shilton Paul kept them at bay to keep the scores level in the 65th minute. Amos received the ball in the box from the left, but his shot was blocked by the Bagan defence, and the rebound shot from Bisheshwor Singh was parried away for a corner acrobatically by Shilton.

Karim Bencherifa realized that Bagan lacked something up front, and he brought on Ishfaq Ahmed for Snehashish in the 71st minute. However, it was Sporting who had the next chance, as Joseph Pereira latched on to a long cross-field ball to thunder a volley towards the near post with his first touch, but Shilton was up to the task again.

Tayo had another chance for Sporting in the 75th minute, but his header from Samananda's cross bounced just wide of the far post. 

Both sides were going at it after that, but Sporting were defending much better, with substitute Mathew Gonsalves looking especially impressive after coming on at half time. 

Bagan had their nervous moments at the back, but Sporting couldn't conjure any more chances, and drew their second successive game at home against a Kolkata side.

Atishay Agarwal

Source: Goal.com

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Added by: Anselm Pio Noronha