East Bengal Club and Mohun Bagan AC played out a 1-1 draw in an I-League Round 19 match at the Saltlake Stadium, Kolkata on Saturday. The draw ensured that both teams are still very much in the fray for the I-League title.
The match kicked-off after a minutes of silence in honour of the victims of the Egypt football stadium tragedy that took place earlier this week.
East Bengal started with Robin Singh and Tolgay Ozbey upfront, while Mohun Bagan fielded India star Sunil Chhetri and Odafe Onyeka Okolie.
The high voltage derby kicked-off with both outfits on fire and one could see the tension in both camps.
The first chance fell to Sunil Chhetri, who took a shot from the edge of the box. But Sunil’s attempt sailed over the crossbar.
The first 25 minutes were all about possession for East Bengal. In the 29th minute Robin Singh headed down a freekick for Tolgay Ozbey, who misdirected his shot and failed to capitalise.
However, in the 33rd minute Harmanjot Singh Khabra played a delightful pass to Robin Singh. Robin latched onto the ball and finished it with his right foot and gave East Bengal a 1-0 lead.
Just two minutes into the second half, Mohun Bagan’s Odafe Onyeka Okolie dribbled past Mehtab Hussain and struck a shot, which deflected into the East Bengal goalmouth to restore parity.
After the equaliser both the teams kept trying without any success and the scoreline remained unchanged till full time.
East Bengal now have 35 points from 19 matches, while Mohun Bagan are just a point behind from 19 outings.
(Edited AIFF Press Release)