The Mohun Bagan vs East Bengal fixture, popularly known as the Kolkata Derby is a 100-year-old footballing rivalry with a rich history. The match is locally known as the ‘boro match’ which means ‘big match’ in Bengali. The first match between these two sides was played on 8 August 1921 in the Coochbehar cup, which ended as a goalless stalemate. Since then, both of these sides have battled it out against each other around 382 times, in which, East Bengal came out victorious 132 times and Mohun Bagan won 125 games. The rest of the games ended in a draw.

Both East Bengal and Mohun Bagan joined the Hero ISL two seasons back.  Ahead of the first ISL fixture that is going to be played in front of home fans in Kolkata, we take a look at some of the memorable games between these two sides over the last 10-12 years

East Bengal 3-3 Mohun Bagan, East Bengal won 3-2 on penalties (Mohammedan sporting platinum jubilee cup, November 14, 2010)

To commemorate their maiden triumph of the prestigious Calcutta Football League in 1934, the Mohammedan sporting club organized the platinum jubilee cup with Mohun Bagan, East Bengal, and the world’s first-ever football club Sheffield FC being the participants. Mohun Bagan and East Bengal made it to the final of the two-day contest and produced a goal-fest. Alvito D’cunha put East Bengal in front in the stoppage time of the first half, but Mohun Bagan returned in the second half with goals from Satish Kumar and Ashim Biswas giving them the lead. Their celebrations didn’t last long as Robin Singh equalized for East Bengal and the game went to extra time. East Bengal looked to have won it when Robin scored again in the extra time to make it 3-2 in the 101st minute of the game. But, Mohun Bagan responded well and Harpreet Singh’s strike took the final to penalties, which East Bengal won 3-2.

East Bengal 3-0 Mohun Bagan (I-league 2012)

A wave of violence erupted at the Salt Lake Stadium as this derby fixture was forced to be called off. 

It all started when East Bengal took the lead through Harmanjot Khabra from a Mehtab Hussain freekick in the 43rd minute of the game. Things started to heat up when Bagan’s star recruit Odafa Okolie was given a straight red card by referee Vishnu Chauhan for expressing his displeasure. Soon after the incident, Mohun Bagan fans started pelting stones and bricks at the field, one of them hitting a Mohun Bagan midfielder Syed Rahim Nabi’s face. He was quickly hospitalized and Bagan players came off the field. The match was then called off after Bagan refused to field their player’s in the second half. Mohun Bagan was given a two-year suspension for the same reason.

East Bengal 4-0 Mohun Bagan (2015)

East Bengal clinched the Calcutta Football League title for the 6th consecutive time by thrashing Mohun Bagan 4-0 in their penultimate game of the league.

In front of a packed 65000 crowd at the Salt Lake Stadium, East Bengal’s South Korean star recruit Do Dong-Hyun netted two freekicks in the first half while goals from Muhammad Rafique and Rahul Bheke in the second half completed a 4-0 rout against their arch-rivals, Mohun Bagan.

Mohun Bagan 2-1 East Bengal (I-league 2019)

This was the last Kolkata Derby game in the I-league era. Mohun Bagan made it one to remember as goals from Joseba Betia and Baba Diawara on either side of the break gave the Mariners 3 points and the much-needed edge in their title race with East Bengal’s consolation goal coming from Marco’s Jimenez in the 72nd minute being too late.

ATK Mohun Bagan 3-1 SC East Bengal 

One of the dramatic encounters between the two sides in the ISL has to be the 2021 fixture where a young Kiyan Nassiri, son of former East Bengal legend Jamshad Nassiri stunned the red and gold with his second-half hat-trick heroics that won the game for the Mariners. Darren Sidoel had given East Bengal the lead in the 56th minute of the game, but Kiyan came on and soon equalized in the 64′ minute, However, his dramatic double strike deep in the injury time killed the game for East Bengal as Mariners extended their winning streak against the rivals.

Today as Kolkata prepares for another derby day, it will be interesting to see whether Juan Ferrando’s high-flying ATK Mohun Bagan come on top or will it be Stephen Constantine’s pragmatic East Bengal that breaks the jinx, either ways expect a high-octane encounter.

Photo Credit – ISL Media

Also Read: Sekar sinks Bengaluru FC as Odisha FC pick up third win of the season and go top of the table

For more trial-related updates click-> Latest trials updates in Mumbai Football

The post Kolkata Derby: Memorable games from the last decade appeared first on Football Counter.

The game started with an early goal from the losing side. Kidderpore’s Emmanuel scored a perfect goal in the 3rd minute to kick-start proceedings. But the scene soon changed as Peerless bounced back and dominated from the very next minute as play resumed.

The champions equalised in the 8th minute after a great ball from Saikhom Singh helped Moula find the net. After the first goal, there was no looking back for Peerless. 

Md Aftab scored from another assist by Saikhom putting Peerless on the driving seat at the 22nd minute. Soon, Ansumana Kromah, the captain, stepped up, and found the net twice. He poached his first goal from a calm tap-in at the 39th minute and scored his brace at the 70th minute, leading his team to a comfortable 4-1 win.

Peerless SC created history by winning the Calcutta Football League in 2019, becoming the first small club since 1958 to have surpassed the three Kolkata giants – ATK Mohun Bagan, SC East Bengal, and Mohammedan SC to clinch the trophy.

Peerless will play their next Group-B game against Aryan Club on 25th August while Kidderpore SC face George Telegraph on 26th August. The matches are streamed live on Aajkal’s Facebook Page and is telecasted on RPlus TV.

Full-Time Score:

Peerless SC (Moula 8’, Aftab 22’, Kromah 39’ 70’) 4-1 Kidderpore SC (Emmanuel 3’)

For Trial related updates: Latest trials updates in Mumbai Football

Also Read: The Resurgence of Mumbai Football

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for all the latest happenings in the world of Indian football

The post CFL 2021: Defending champions Peerless SC start with winning way appeared first on Football Counter.

India’s biggest football draw – derby between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal ended with a no-show as Mariners failed to make an appearance in the Calcutta Football League Premier Division.

Drama has always been a part of this rivalry between the two teams. Mohun Bagan had started an exchange of letters with the Indian Football Association (IFA), over the rescheduling of the Derby match from 7th September, 2016 to a later date. Their major concern at first was the match being played at the Kalyani Stadium, which in Mohun Bagan’s view lacked enough seating for the club’s representatives and fans. As a result, IFA decided to build a temporary stand to accommodate 4000 fans, with 2000 extra tickets being allotted to both the sides. But after failing the safety standards check by Public Works Department (PWD) the four thousand tickets allotted to either club, was again reduced to two thousand.

Mohun Bagan general secretary Anjan Mitra alleged that they were not consulted before “arbitrarily reducing the quantity of tickets, which has made it impossible to meet the demand of our members”. Mitra said his team had even cancelled the hotel booking in Kalyani after receiving “verbal assurance” that the tie would be postponed. “The entire management for organizing this Derby was in such a situation that the conduct of the match was in uncertainty,” he said.

“As the governing body of football in the state, you should accept our logic of providing 48 hours for preparation as it is very essential for the team to understand the surface and size of the field and get them accustomed with the condition,” Mitra said.

East Bengal had turned up for the game at the Kalyani Municipal Stadium, as per the scheduled start time at 3pm. The side submitted its team sheet as per rules and began their warm up training, while there were no signs of Mohun Bagan. Match referee Pranjan Banerjee waited for 30 minutes before calling it off, and declaring the red-and-gold winners.

The IFA was firm on its stand that the date of the match was announced a couple weeks before, but Mohun Bagan’s never-ending complaints and eventual walk out, meant three points and the walkover to East Bengal.

Also read: For when “the Sleeping Giant” wakes up.

Former footballers and fans, who waited earnestly for the season’s first derby, were all left disappointed by the events. Former India captain and mariner Chuni Goswami believed the situation could have been avoided.

“Mohun Bagan faced many tough situations in the past but they always overcame them by playing and not staying away from it. I don’t know why they took such a stand. The game should have been held and players must be allowed to play even under unavoidable circumstances,” he said.

East Bengal captain Arnab Mondal said: “We were mentally ready to play and not bothered by what happens outside the pitch. You don’t want to be crowned champions like this. A player knows that each point in any league has to be earned. I can’t speak for Mohun Bagan players but as a footballer, I feel bad about this,”

East Bengal will now move to 24 points from eight matches and continue to lead the points table of CFL. Mohammedan SC with 16 points from seven games is placed second. With two games to go East Bengal are just 2 points away from lifting the trophy for the seventh consecutive time and 38^th time overall

This is not the first time that a team was given a walkover between the two rivals. There has been history of incidents which keeps the rivalry between the two sides alive. Mohun Bagan lead East Bengal 4-3 in the score for walkovers against each other with the last four being the mariners.

The post East Bengal one step away from lifting the CFL trophy after Mariners no show in the derby game appeared first on Football Counter.

The post Calcutta Football League 2016 (CFL): Updated Standings and Fixtures appeared first on Football Counter.

Manotosh Chakladar opened the scoring for United Sports Club in the 15th minute and went into the break with a solitary lead over East Bengal.

East Bengal soon equalized in the second-half through Lalrindika Ralte’s beautiful strike. Minutes later United Sports Club restored the parity when Bello Rasaq converted from the spot.

United SC increased their lead by two goals when V.P Suhair found the back of the net in the 63rd minute, courtesy of Budhiram Tudu’s brilliant assist.

East Bengal’s star player Do Dong-Hyun came on as a substitute and made a huge impact straightaway coming into the game. Hyun made no mistake from the spot to make it 2-3 and brought the defending champions back into the game. Captain Arnab Mondal nodded home a corner in the 79th-minute to level the score at 3-3.

Just when the match was heading towards a stalemate, Lalrindika Ralte once again found the back of the net to complete a sensational comeback for the Red & Golds. With this win, East Bengal has moved to the top of the table with four wins in four games, whereas, bitter rivals Mohun Bagan are just a place below them with three wins in three games.

The post Calcutta Football League (CFL) 2016: East Bengal makes an incredible comeback to go top of the table appeared first on Football Counter.