East Bengal 2-1 Mohun Bagan: Five talking points

The top of the I-League got even more interesting as East Bengal clinched a vital three points today in the Kolkata derby courtesy of a 2-1 win over Mohun Bagan. East Bengal drew first blood late in the first half as Do Dong Hyun scored his first goal in the I-League to put the Red and Gold in front.

The South Korean later doubled their lead in the 74th minute, only to see the Mariners storm back into the contest. Bagan skipper Katsumi Yusi powered in a fantastic header in the 82nd minute to give the technically sound away side hope. And then they thought they had finally made an amazing comeback when Sehnaj Singh brought down Jeje Lalpekhlua in the box to give Bagan a penalty deep into injury time.

However, the Indian international failed to write the bottom line to story of the game as he would have wished for as his cheeky try to fool Luis Barreto from the spot fell flat on its face. Here are five of the biggest taking points from the hotly contested game at Siliguri.

Bernard Mendy finally comes to the party

A lot was expected of Bernard Mendy when East Bengal signed him at the beginning of the season. However, after a promising start to his East Bengal career, the Frenchman failed to fully live up to the expectations. One of the biggest cause for concern has been integrating him into the setup and presenting the Frenchman with a position where he could flourish.

After playing all across the midfield, the Chennayin FC star was today played up front alongside Ranty Martins. Biswajit Bhattacharya’s tactic of utilizing the physical presence of the Frenchman paid off the in the first half as he time and time again bullied Kingshuk Debnath. The ploy finally bore fruit late on in the first half when he won the header which led to the penalty decision which put East Bengal in front.

He continued to make his presence felt in the second-half and when Mohun Bagan began to turn up the screws late on, the former PSG man fell back to lend the midfield extra support.