• Source:JND
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Mohun Bagan SG vs East Bengal FC, ISL 2023-24: Mohun Bagan Super Giants somehow maintained their undefeated streak against long-time rivals East Bengal FC in ISL history through a late equaliser from Dimitri Petratos on Friday, February 3.

The jam-packed Salt Lake Stadium witnessed a remarkable intense action in a four-goal thriller that was almost won by East Bengal but the Mariners somehow got something out of nothing.

East Bengal bossed the game when it came to crucial moments and took an early lead through Ajay Chhetri who found the back of the net in just the third minute of the game.

 

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Mahesh Singh played Nishu Kumar on the overlapping run who bagged a cross inside the box to find Chhetri in front of the goal who made no mistake with the finish.

Anwar Ali, who had returned from an injury, had to go off injured to only add to Mohun Bagan's concerns.

 

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The defender looked struggling as he tried to stop a prancing Saul Crespo and felt some discomfort in his left hamstring before getting substituted by young Amandeep.

Aiming to bounce back in the contest, Mohun Bagan had the trio of Anirudh Thapa, Sahal Abdul Samad, and Dimitrios Petratos taking control in midfield.

Hamill's run on the right side of defence was fed as he found Armando Sadiku with a dangerous cross inside the box.

Sadiku was well placed in front of the goal and made no mistake in finding the back of the net for an equaliser.

The coming minutes witnessed intense action as both sides managed to create multiple chances but failed to break the deadlock with the scoreline remaining 1-1 at halftime.

The early minutes of the second half witnessed a few fouls to set up the tone with a horrible challenge from Ajay forcing Hamill to be substituted as Glan Martins came on and Deepak Tangri moved into defence.

The change ended up costing the mariners as Tangri conceded a penalty by conceding a foul on Mahesh inside the box before skipper Cleiton Silva converted the spot kick with a panenka to give East Bengal a 2-1 lead in the 55th minute.

Just when they were looking as favorites in the contest, they suffered a massive blow as key player Mahesh was concussed after knocking into Subhasish and had to be substituted in the 66th minute.

Both the team made double changes with Mohun Bagan’s Sumit Rathi and Jason Cummings replacing Tangri and Thapa whereas VP Suhair and Edwin Vanspaul replaced Ajay and Mahesh for East Bengal.

In the ending minutes of the thrilling contest, East Bengal's defence looked disoriented allowing the Mariners to create a chance.

Sahal tried to feed Manvir on the run but the cross bounced off Lalchununga and fell for Dimitri Petratos who smashed the ball into the back of the net in the 87th minute.

His late equaliser saved Mohun Bagan from suffering their first-ever defeat in ISL history against East Bengal but the Kolkata Derby witnessed the first-ever draw in the tournament.