I-League: Odafe penalty wins Kolkata Derby for Mohun Bagan

Mohun Bagan AC beat archrivals East Bengal Club 1-0 at a packed Saltlake Stadium in the I-League. A lot had been expected from the seasons first Kolkata derby, but the match never really rose to great heights with a controversial penalty having to decide the game.

East Bengal looked the better of the two sides initially as the red-and-gold had more of the ball and possession in midfield, but rarely did they trouble Mohun Bagan goalkeeper Sangram Mukherjee while the green-and-maroon played a more wait-and-watch game.

Mohun Bagan earned a penalty when Uga Okpara wasn't able to clear the ball first time, he had to tackle Sunil Chhetri to clear the ball. While the Nigerian thought he had carried out a clean tackle, the referee pointed to his disbelieve to the spot which resulted in majo discussions. Striker Odafe Onyeka Okolie cooly took the spot-kick and gave the green-and-maroon a 1-0 lead in the 22nd minute.

After the goal the match stayed even with East Bengal continuing to have more of the ball, but chances remained a rare commodity in the game with the keepers Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and Sangram having to make no saves at all.

East Bengal continued their search for the equaliser after the break with the red-and-gold now having chances to get onto the score-sheet with Sangram Mukherjee now the hero for Mohun Bagan. First he denied captain Sanju Pradhan a goal, while also thwarting attempts from Robin Singh and Alan Gow. Sunil Chhetri had the chance to seal the match for Mohun Bagan in the 78th minute, but he couldn't slot the ball home.

Towards the end the match had to be stopped for a few minutes with the lights going off at the Saltlake Stadium, something which continues to happen regularly at India's biggest football stadium. It ended 1-0 for Mohun Bagan with celebrations in the Ghoti camp.


MATCH STATS

Mohun Bagan AC 1-0 (1-0) East Bengal Club - Goals: 1-0 Odafe Onyeka Okolie (22', pen)

Mohun Bagan AC
21-Sangram Mukherjee; 13-Surkumar Irungbam Singh, 4-Kingshuk Debnath, 2-Daniel Carl Zeleny, 6-R. Dhanarajan; 10-Jose Ramirez Barreto [C], 23-Jewel Raja Sheikh, 20-Rakesh Masih (46' 25-Snehasish Chakraborty), 19-Syed Rahim Nabi; 9-Odafe Onyeka Okolie, 11-Sunil Chhetri

East Bengal Club
30-Gurpreet Singh Sandhu; 8-Naoba Thokchom Singh, 3-Nirmal Chetri, 4-Uga Okpara, 25-Robert Lalthlamuana; 12-Reisangmi Vashum, 17-Susanth Mathew (70' 6-Baljit Singh Sahni), 18-Penn Ikechukwu Orji, 15-Sanju Pradhan [C] (84' 2-Ravinder Singh); 10-Alan Gow, 23-Robin Singh

Referee
Pratap Singh (Services)

Yellow Cards
Jose Ramirez Barreto (90+', Mohun Bagan); Susanth Mathew (6'), Alan Gow (8'), Uga Okpara (21', all East Bengal)