Proof of how little separates Mohun Bagan Super Giant and East Bengal this season lies not only in the teams being level on points and struggling with set-pieces but also having a player each booked for simulation in the round before Sunday’s Kolkata derby.
It took six seasons of the Indian Super League (ISL) for two of Asia’s oldest extant clubs to go toe to toe which also means it has taken East Bengal – the only club that had to build a squad from scratch thrice – that long to emerge as title contenders.
In that time, first as ATK Mohun Bagan and then in their current avatar, the other half of Indian football’s most famous rivalry won the ISL cup and the league shield once each before doing the double last term. Inheriting a champions’ squad as part of the merger in 2020 sure has its advantages. It also explains why East Bengal have never won against Mohun Bagan in ISL; a 2-2 draw in 2023-24 is the only time they have got point from 10 matches.
Seven in the fray
But that was then. Twice in the Durand Cup and once in the Super Cup, East Bengal have shown they can beat Mohun Bagan. This season, the IFA Shield final between them needed a tie-breaker before Mohun Bagan emerged champions and the Super Cup tie ended in a draw. Sets up things perfectly for Sunday, doesn’t it?
Theoretically, seven teams can win ISL12. Full points on Sunday for either East Bengal or the defending champions will eliminate Jamshedpur FC, Bengaluru FC and FC Goa. One from Punjab FC and Mumbai City FC can finish on 25 points which is also where the winners of the derby can end if they lose their last match.
With head to head being the first tie-breaker, East Bengal would want to be level on points with Mumbai City FC. For Mohun Bagan, who have lost to Mumbai, Punjab FC would be the team they would want to be on same points to decide the season’s champions.
But neither Punjab nor Mumbai would be in the hunt if the Kolkata clubs get four points from the remaining two rounds. If Mohun Bagan and East Bengal end on 26 points and Sunday’s match ends in a draw, goal difference will be considered. For now, East Bengal have a comfortable +5 lead there.
Back to front, East Bengal also look more organised. A comeback win away to Mumbai City FC and Anton Sojberg’s dramatic late equaliser against Bengaluru FC, where they played with 10 from the 24th minute, showed that the run of two draws and a loss in February-March was a blip not a bump on the road.
Under pressure following the 1-1 draw at home to Kerala Blasters, which came after the 1-2 loss to Jamshedpur FC and the 0-0 draw against FC Goa, Oscar Bruzon turned the campaign around with a goalfest against Mohammedan Sporting. East Bengal won four of their next six matches with the 3-3 draw against Bengaluru FC feeling like a win. Punjab FC gave them a good fight, and Prabhsukhan Gill a good workout, but East Bengal will not be wrong in thinking that the paint of the framework separated them from full points.
Kevin Sibille’s return from injury added solidity to the defence where Anwar Ali has been excellent. Credit to the outspoken Bruzon for bringing out the central defender in Jeakson Singh and the wing back in PV Vishnu. Miguel Ferreira is mercurial, tends to fade out of games but can also provide a killer pass or score a superb goal.
Youssef Ezzejjari has scored 10 goals but that East Bengal have nine others on the scoresheet means goals have come from all areas of the pitch.
Mohun Bagan also have nine scorers with Jamie Maclaren leading the charts with nine goals but their momentum may have been hit by a long break after successive wins against Punjab FC and NorthEast United. They failed to protect the lead against FC Goa and looked disjointed and then desperate in Tuesday’s barren draw against Inter Kashi.
Robson has been a big ticket signing and while the Brazilian can turn a game with his skills, his arrival led to Liston Colaco moving to the right and Manvir Singh losing his place in the starting 11. Singh’s industry in the front third is hard to replicate and switching flanks has meant Colaco cannot cut in as often as he would as wide left.
Dimitrios Petratos has worked hard as a No.10 but neither he nor Jason Cummings have been able to reproduce their scoring form from last term. And Mohun Bagan have not scored once from a corner-kick this term. By December 2024, they had scored eight. East Bengal have scored once.
The injury to Lalengmawia Ralte has left a hole in the midfield, Mohun Bagan have struggled to fill. Mohun Bagan have not looked like the team that in 24-25 didn’t lose at home and rarely away. But the derby has its own dynamic and brimming with individual ability, Mohun Bagan can zoom ahead of East Bengal on Sunday.
Tribute to Bose
It would be an apt tribute to “Tutu” Bose who died on Tuesday aged 79. Swapan Sadhan Bose was a Mohun Bagan supporter who held different positions at the club before becoming club president. Bose convinced Mohun Bagan that their century-old rule against playing foreigners was well past its sell-by date and signed Chima Okorie in 1991.
It was Bose who let Okorie play for East Bengal in 1996-97 after Mohun Bagan failed to qualify for the main round of the National Football League. It was Bose again, along with childhood friend Anjan Mitra, whose backchannel talks helped Mohun Bagan continue in the 2012-13 I-League after paying a fine of ₹2 crore for walking off in a Kolkata derby.
Bose stayed Mohun Bagan’s chief financier for decades and played a key role in the merger between ATK and Mohun Bagan in 2020. Along with Mitra, who died in 2019, and later Debasish Dutta, now president of the club, Bose ran Mohun Bagan for nearly three decades through times more good than bad.
