ATK Mohun Bagan continued to hold sway over its traditional rival Emami East Bengal as it prevailed over the latter by a solitary goal in a Group B league match of the 131st Durand Cup football, at the Salt Lake Stadium here on Sunday.
ATK Mohun Bagan’s win was tragically realised by an own goal coming from East Bengal forward Sumeet Passi in the injury-time of the first half. This was the sixth straight win for ATK Mohun Bagan which has been winning every meeting against East Bengal since January 2020.
Watched by a capacity crowd of around 65,000, the match failed to reach the desired height as the classical opponents struggled to find form in the attacking third.
ATK Mohun Bagan enjoyed a slight edge in the creative part as it started assailing East Bengal with greater frequency. But the goal remained elusive as the East Bengal defence stood up to the challenge and kept its box sealed from ATK Bagan’s attackers for most part of the game.
ATK Mohun Bagan had the first good opportunity off Ashique Kuruniyan but the winger, despite clearing the East Bengal defence showing skills, could not keep his attempt on target. The goal finally happened in the injury-time when a corner-shot taken by Liston Colaco was missed by the first line of East Bengal defence and the ball sneaked through to find Passi and deflected home.
Mohun Bagan had more chances after the break but missed the presence of a positive striker after having released the Fijian forward Roy Krishna the previous season.
East Bengal, which adopted a counter-attacking approach, had some chances but none of them were sharp enough to beat the ATKMB goalkeeper Vishal Kaith. Mohun Bagan tallied four points from three matches after the win while East Bengal remained on two points from three matches to virtually see its Durand Cup hopes vanishing.
The result
Group B: Emami East Bengal 0 lost to ATK Mohun Bagan 1 (Sumeet Passi 45+2 – og).
