Mohun Bagan beat Aizawl 20, return to winning ways after four games

KOLKATA: A self-goal and one from Dipanda Dicka that may have been scored from an off-side position helped Mohun Bagan beat defending champions Aizawl FC and return to winning ways in the I-league after four games, at Salt Lake stadium here on Sunday.

After eight rounds, Mohun Bagan have 13 points and moved up to fourth place, two rungs above Aizawl FC who stayed on 10. “It was good to get a win but the good work across all departments will need to continue,” said Sankarlal Chakraborty after his first match as head coach.

Aizawl FC proved difficult to break down but Mohun Bagan went in at half-time as the team that looked more likely to score.

They would have had Shylo Malsawmtluanga not headed out Kingsley Eze’s header, off Raynier Fernandes corner-kick in the 38th minute, from the goalline.

Aizawl FC goalkeeper Avilash Paul’s barreling into Dicka too could have been costly but Dicka and Nikhil Kadam exchanged one pass too many and that helped him retreat and clear the danger.

Playing his first match in over two months, Australian Cameron Watson added some muchneeded purpose to the Mohun Bagan midfield and was among the six changes Chakraborty made after their last match ended in a 1-2 defeat to Chennai City FC and had Sanjoy Sen stepping down.

One of the changes, Dipendu Dowary, though had to be taken off in the 30th because he couldn’t get the left side going and, as the coach said, was losing possession. And though Mohun Bagan played more on the ground than they did against Indian Arrows and Chennai City, the others, barring Fernandes and Kadam to an extent, too didn’t distinguish themselves.