ISL: Dominant Mohun Bagan SG muscle past Mohammedan SC 4-0, extend lead at points table

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], February 1 (ANI): Mohun Bagan Super Giant defeated city rivals Mohammedan SC 4-0 at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krinangan in Kolkata in the Indian Super League (ISL) 2024-25 season on Saturday.
Braces from Subhasish Bose and Manvir Singh saw the Mariners breach the Mohammedan SC defence. With this win, the Mariners are 10 points clear at the top of the points table this season. They now have 43 points and the second-placed FC Goa have 33 to their name. This was also Vishal Kaith's 50th ISL clean sheet as he became the first goalkeeper to register such a feat, a release from ISL stated.
The Mariners started the game with a lot of panache and momentum as they kept pushing the Mohammedan SC backline early on in the game. They eventually found the back of the net in the 12th minute from a corner kick delivered by Liston Colaco.
Mohammedan SC defenders initially defended the ball but Jamie Maclaren held it up brilliantly before playing it to Dippendu Biswas, who took an effort towards the goal and Subhasish was in the right position to slot it home past Padam Chhetri in goal to score his fifth goal of the season. He has now scored more goals this season than all his other seasons in the competition combined.
Manvir Singh stepped up in the 20th minute to double the lead for the Mariners. It was a great corner delivered by Jason Cummings on the near post and before Padam could react, Manvir rose the highest and nestled it into the back of the net, ISL release added.
Mohun Bagan Super Giant almost found the third when Cummings, in a more creative role, made a run down the left flank before squaring it to Maclaren. However, Florent Ogier was alert to the danger and made a timely interception to disrupt the promising move.
After the drinks break, Carlos Franca made a couple of telling runs but the Mariners' backline did enough to smother those opportunities.
However, Mohammedan SC were again pegged back when Mohun Bagan SG found their third goal of the game in the 43rd minute. Cummings came up with the delivery from a free-kick before Maclaren set it up with a deft touch for Subhasish to slot it home once again.
Mohammedan SC's best chance of the first half fell to Manvir Singh Saini from a corner delivered by Mirjalol Kasimov. The youngster was the first to react but his header was tipped over the bar by Vishal Kaith. But things took a drastic turn for the hosts when Kasimov in frustration swiped his leg at Tom Aldred when he was down on the ground. The referee saw the action and handed him marching orders right at the stroke of half-time.
The second half started with Alexis Gomez coming close to scoring from a freekick just outside the box. Later, Cummings' freekick wasn't properly gathered by Padam and Manvir almost capitalised on the stray ball. But it was eventually cleared away by Mohammedan SC defenders. However, he scored the fourth goal in the 53rd minute when he headed it home past Padam from Cummings' exceptional cross from the left flank.
Later, Jose Molina introduced Dimitrios Petratos and Abhishek Suryavanshi replacing Manvir and Sahal Abdul Samad. As the match progressed, the Mariners controlled the tempo of the game with Cummings being the centre of most of their attacks.
In the 74th minute, Petratos had a crack at goal after Liston Colaco found him with a great ball. While Padam saved the initial effort, Maclaren picked up the ricochet and tried his luck but Ogier came up with a fine block.
The Mariners had a flurry of chances to score more goals but they weren't at their clinical best. Despite that, Molina's men secured their 13th win of the season whilst clocking the 11th clean sheet.
Jason Cummings registered two assists whilst creating six chances on the night. Cummings was the centrepiece of all the attacks for the Mariners. He also clocked an interception and a tackle whilst completing 11 out of the 19 attempted passes.
Mohammedan SC will face Hyderabad FC on February 8, whereas Mohun Bagan SG will play Punjab FC on February 5. (ANI)