East Bengal came back from being two goals down to salvage a point against Mohun Bagan in the first Kolkata derby of the season on Sunday. Jim Acosta scored just before half-time and Laldanmawia added another goal in the second half for East Bengal after Mohun Bagan have take the lead through Pintu Mahata and Henry Kisekka. Here is how it happened in the Calcutta Football League derby clash between East Bengal and Mohun Bagan: 18:30 IST Sunday, 2 September 2018 FULL TIME: East Bengal 2-2 Mohun Bagan The derby ends in a draw. East Bengal will be really happy to share the points after being 2-goals down. Bahan will rue the chance. 18:29 IST Sunday, 2 September 2018 East Bengal make a messy clearance in the box. Dagar then goes down complaining of pain. He is back up again in no time too. 18:25 IST Sunday, 2 September 2018 5 minutes of extra time has been added. Can any team secure the win? 18:20 IST Sunday, 2 September 2018 We are into last five minutes of the regulated time. Both teams are trying hard to break the deadlock. However, there haven't been many shot on target. 18:17 IST Sunday, 2 September 2018 Chance! Good cross from Pintu Mahata but Dicka's header is wide. 18:15 IST Sunday, 2 September 2018 SUB! Azharuddin Mallick replaces Britto PM. 18:10 IST Sunday, 2 September 2018 SUB! Surabuddin Mallick comes on for Laldanmawia Ralte. 18:05 IST Sunday, 2 September 2018 East Bengal on the attack now- they win two free-kicks but Bagan defence is solid. 18:03 IST Sunday, 2 September 2018 Chance! Dicka finds himself with space after Acosta gave the ball away. However, he fails put Bagan ahead again. 17:57 IST Sunday, 2 September 2018 GOAL !!!! ! East Bengal have levelled. Laldanmawia scores from a corner to make it 2-2. 17:56 IST Sunday, 2 September 2018 Abhishek Ambekar brings Danmawia down as players rush onto the spot and involve in pushing and shoving. Al-Amna and Shilton Paul booked for their involment in the scuffle. 17:53 IST Sunday, 2 September 2018 Bagan's Mehtab Hossain stretchered off due to a possible twist. 17:48 IST Sunday, 2 September 2018 SUB! Mehtab Hossain replaces Shilton de Silva. YELLOW! Kassim Aidara picks up booking for a poorly time challenge on Pintu. EB are on attack- they win a freekick 40-odd yards from the goal. However, it amounts to nothing. HALF TIME: East Bengal 1-2 Mohun Bagan East Bengal have scored a crucial goal just before the break. The second half should be interesting. GOAL!!!!! East Begal have pulled one back in the added time. It's a freak goal. The Bagan goalkeeper could not collect a header cleanly. the ball bounced off Acosta to get inside the goal. Free Kick for East Bengal! However, Bagan defenders put it out easily. Mohun Bagan are the side with more chances right now. Abhishek tries to put it in the EB box from the left but his shot sails over the post. Ouch- That's gonna hurt! There is a clash of heads just outside the Mohun Bagan box. Both players get ice-pack treatment. Henry Kisekka's extends Bagan's lead to 2-0. He got the ball from the right wing and put it in with great control. Kisekka nearly makes it two but his attempt flashes just wide of the target. Good chance for East Bengal from a corner. However, Johnny Acosta's header is wide. Goal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a superb strike from Pintu Mahata. Hats off!!! A superb attack from Mohun Bagan. Pintu takes full use of brilliant pass from Arijit. East Bengal goalie had no chance.!! 1-0 for Mohun Bagan after 19th minute. Good freekick from East Bengal. Acosta tries to connect but only manages to collide with goal-keeper. On the other side, a good strike from Mohun Bagan's Dipanda goes slightly out of the framework. Weak Henry shot too easily saved. Still goalless. 0-0 so far after 10 minutes. Mohun Bagan definitely enjoying better parts of the exchange. Early exchange slightly favouring Mohun Bagan so far. Henry took a brilliant freekick and superbly saved by Rakshit. East Bengal : Dagar (GK), Samas, Mehtab , Acosta, Lalramchullova, Laldanmawia, Kamalpreet, Aidara, Kassim, Brandon, Al-Amna, Justin Mohun Bagan : Shilton Paul (GK), Arijit , Kingsley, Lalchawnkima, Ambekar, Britto, Pintu, Sourav Das, Shilton de Silva, Dipanda, Henry Mohun Bagan playing unchanged XI. Only one change for East Bengal, Acosta playing for red and gold brigade. It has rained heavily in Kolkata today. The ground will be heavy and whoever controls the midfield is likely to have the edge. Preview Kolkata arch rivals East Bengal and Mohun Bagan are facing off for the first time this season, in the Calcutta Football League. The match will start at 4.30 PM and will be held at Yuva Bharati Krirangan, in Salt Lake Kolkata. Mohun Bagan coached by Shankarlal Chakraborty will be desperate to break East Bengal's stranglehold over Calcutta Football League. The red and gold brigade have won the title for eight times in a row now and will be favourites to lift the trophy again if they can get better of their traditional rivals on Sunday. The only problem is, East Bengal hasn't defeated Mohun Bagan in their last six outings. The point was made by East Bengal Technical Director Subhas Bhowmick who said that they will be looking to break the streak. There has been huge interest to watch this first derby of the season with mad scramble among fans to get tickets. One big reason is that East Bengal's Costa Rican World Cupper Johnny Acosta will be making his debut. Other players to look out for are Kamalpreet Singh and Al Amna among the East Bengal stars. For Mohun Bagan, the top billings are for Dicka, Kingsley and Shilton. On paper, East Bengal are slight favourites, but as any old Kolkata football veteran will say, it is always 50-50 in a derby. At the end, it may well be a case of Mohun Bagan forward line versus the East Bengal defence. Where to Watch The match will be telecasted by Sadhna News from 4.30 PM. You can watch the live stream here Probabale XIs Mohun Bagan Probable XI: Shilton, Arijit, Kingsley, Shilton De Silva, Abhishek, Britto, Pintu, Dicka, Henry, Lalchhawnkima, Mehtab East Bengal Probable XI: Rakshit, Acosta, Kingshuk, Al-Amna, Samad, Lalramchullova, Kassim, Kamalpreet, Brandon, Laldanmawia, Justin<doc-sep>One of the biggest matches in Indian football Kolkata Derby - was played for the first time in the 2018-19 season at the world-famous Yuva Bharati Krirangan, or as it is popularly known nowadays, the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata today afternoon in the eighth round of fixtures of the Calcutta Football League Premier Division. It was the first Calcutta Football League derby after the renovation of the Salt Lake Stadium after East Bengal's emphatic 4-0 win over Mohun Bagan back in 2015. The previous Kolkata derby had been in the I-League in which Mohun Bagan had emerged victorious with a 2-0 scoreline. Today's match marked a top of the table clash in the Calcutta Football League Premier Division as the two rivals were locked at 19 points after seven fixtures so far in the league. The Mariners, Mohun Bagan were on the top of the table on account of higher goals scored in their favour (16) as compared to East Bengal (14). Mohun Bagan came into the derby on the back of a win over the Aryan Club with a 2-0 margin whereas East Bengal fought off a stiff challenge against George Telegraph to win 2-1 courtesy a last-minute goal by Koushik Sarkar. Mohun Bagan started strong in the match and took a 2-0 lead before the debuting Jhonny Acosta cut it down to 2-1 at the end of the first half. East Bengal had a better second half as they equalized through Laldanmawia Ralte. Mohun Bagan A.C. Shilton Paul (5/10) - The Mohun Bagan captain had a pretty quiet first half as the defence kept the attacks at bay for the most part. He conceded unlucky goals from rebounds after he had made good saves. Arijit Bagui (7.5/10) - The right-back for Bagan was the most dangerous player on the pitch as he created the first two goals for Bagan with his crosses from the right flank. Eze Kingsley (6.5/10) - The central defender was the wall for Bagan today as he blocked and tackled everything that came in his path. He won a lot of headers and was always a danger during setpieces. Lalchawnkima (6.5/10) - Kima was an able partner to Kingsley in defence as he moved the ball well from the back and was strong in his challenges as well. Abhishek Ambekar (/10) - The left-back had a productive afternoon on the pitch as he did well on both the defensive and attacking fronts with his runs on the left flank. Shilton de Silva (5/10) - The former Mumbai FC midfielder had a solid outing in the central midfield for the Bagan side as he put in a lot of tackles to provide protection to the defence. At times, he even tested the East Bengal goal from long distance. Britto PM (5.5/10) - The midfielder moved the ball well across the centre of the park and found the runs of attacking players ahead of him. Pintu Mahata (6.5/10) - The youngster got the first goal of the match with a solid finish from inside the box and was a constant source of attacks with his movement on the right side of the attack. Sourav Das (6/10) - The attacking midfielder made a lot of runs alongside the two strikers into the box and came close to scoring on a couple of occasions. Asier Dipanda Dicka (6/10) - The dangerous striker was ever-present in the box at the end of crosses and kept the East Bengal defence on their toes throughout the ninety minutes. Henry Kisseka (7/10) - The former Gokulam Kerala FC man came close to scoring early on in the match from a freekick but found the net in the first half to make it 2-0. He used his physicality well to make life tough for the East Bengal defenders. Substitutes: Mehtab Hossain (1/10) - The veteran midfielder came on before the hour mark to replace Shilton D'Silva in the midfield as Chakraborty added experience and grit to his lineup on the field. Unfortunately, he had a short stay as he got injured after a fall and was replaced. Dareen Caldeira (3/10) - The former Bengaluru FC and ATK man was put on by Shankarlal Chakraborty to replace Mehtab Hossain in the midfield for the final half an hour of the match. Azharuddin Mallick (2/10) - The young winger came on to replace Britto PM towards the end of the match as Bagan looked to find the match-winning goal. 1 / 2 NEXT<doc-sep>CFL 2018: Mohun Bagan and East Bengal ready to give their all in a potential title-deciding Kolkata derby The Kolkata giants will fight tooth and nail to win against each other in a virtual title-decider... A defining feature of football fans is their passion for the game. And in Kolkata, before a derby between East Bengal and Mohun Bagan, the passion and excitement of both fans and players tend to go through the roof. In lieu of the ticket crunch for Sunday's match, a player who has been a regular participant in the derbies until recent history was even ready to trade profession and become a journalist for the 90 minutes so that he gets to watch the game live. Angry Mohun Bagan fans had blocked traffic in front of the club tent due to unavailability of tickets. Later, in the day when 600 tickets were sent to the club by the Indian Football Association (IFA), fortune smiled on some but most had to disperse with a heavy heart. "This is the first time since 2013 I will not be able to be there in the stands in a Kolkata derby. But nevertheless I will come to the stadium. I don't want to miss the celebrations after we win against them," said Saikat Kumar, a resident of a sub-division town called Kalna, which is just under 100 km from Kolkata. A Red and Gold supporter group from North Bengal had alread booked the tickets online to avoid the rush. They had thought that they would start the night before the match and would redeem the tickets before the game. But according to IFA's latest notification online tickets could have been redeemed only until Saturday. After learning about the update, the bunch of fans had to reschedule their journey and had reached the city on Saturday itself. "We will forget the hardship once the match starts. A triple hat-trick of the Calcutta Football League (CFL) crown and then they (Mohun Bagan fans) will go back to their caves until the I-League derby," said one of them. These crusading fans infuse life in an otherwise stale football structure. The word passion seems inadequate to express the volcano of emotions that run through their veins before a derby. At first the Mariners seemed a bit apprehensive of their team's chances, but swiftly they recovered from their trepidatioins and asserted that if East Bengal has a world cupper in their ranks they have an entire team to nullify his presence. "In 2014 the German squad did not have any Messi or Ronaldo. It was not Messi who scored in the final but it was Mario Gotze. Germany played like a team. We will play like a team and take care of Johnny Acosta. Moreover, our Dicka-Henry partnership is working well in the attacking third. It will be his (Acosta's) first match. It will not be easy," pips in a 28-year old private sector employee who had bunked office to collect his match ticket. Mohun Bagan coach Sankar Lal Chakraborty has already declared East Bengal to be the firm favourites. "Bhowmick is one of the best coaches in India. His past success is a testimony to that. I have to be more careful. I admit that East Bengal is ahead of us. Right from the first XI to the coaching staff, they are a better unit. But we are not afraid of them, just paying them the due respect," said Chakraborty on the eve of the derby. Whereas, at Leslie Claudius Sarani you can sense a positive pulse. The supporters are looking forward to nothing less than three points from tomorrow's match. When Lalram Chullova was about to leave after training a group of fans started chanting his name and the defender equally responded to the warmth by fulfilling their selfie-demands. "Johnny Acosta had kept Neymar in his pocket during the world cup. Neymar even got frustrated after a point of time. Dicka and Henry will not be able to move even a muscle in tomorrow'smatch. In midfield Amna and Aidara will bulldoze. It's not about the win but the margin of the win," said an over-enthusiast fan while standing in the ticket queue. After a few moments, a man in his late 40s who was standing right behind him tapped his shoulder and said," January-er derby bhuley gacho? (Have you forgotten the January derby?) We were firm favourites to win that match. Norde (Sony Norde) had left just a day before. Akram (Akram Moghrabi) had practiced just for three-four days. But after Amna (Al Amna) went out getting injured, the team fell like a pack of cards. Every derby is 50-50. After all these years I have learnt it the hard way." Tomorrow's match is virtually a winner-takes-it-all encounter. Although there will be three fixtures in the kitty after tomorrow's game but it is likley that both teams will be able to bag full points from those matches. Mohun Bagan had missed out on the championship by a whisker in the previous season and the local league title have eluded them for the past eight years. On the other hand, East Bengal are knocking on the door of being crowned champions for the ninth straight time. Individual battles will be fought with skill and steely egos. Players will go for bone crunching tackles. The fans will roar throughout the 90 minutes. Afterall it is the Kolkata derby; the biggest game in Indian club football.<doc-sep>
After being undefeated in all the games, the stage is set for the decades old arch-rivals Mohun Bagan and East Bengal to battle it out in the ever intensive Kolkata Derby on 2nd September in the iconic Yuva Bharati Krirangan, also known as the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata. The much-anticipated encounter will be the first Calcutta Football League Derby in the newly renovated Salt Lake Stadium. The last CFL Derby played here was way back in 2015 when Do Dong Hyun's brace guided East Bengal to an emphatic 4-0 win over Mohun Bagan. Mohun Bagan come into this game at the back of a 2-0 win over Aryan Club. The Mariners have clinched six wins and a draw from seven games, and are top of the of the table with 19 points with a +13 Goal difference. East Bengal also have six wins and a draw from their seven games with equal points and identical goal difference (+13). However, the Red and Golds are second in the standings courtesy their inferior goals forced ratio i.e 14 compared to Mohun Bagan's 16. East Bengal registered a hard-fought 2-1 win over Geroge Telegraph in the last Calcutta Football League tie. East Bengal With Johnny Acosta finally signing on the dotted lines for East Bengal in the IFA office, the Costa Rican is all set to make his East Bengal debut at the professional level on Sunday when he takes to the field against arch-rivals Mohun Bagan. Lalrozama Fanai still stays injured and it out of the team. Brandon Vanlalremdika has suffered a slight nick during the matches and can be kept out from action. The Squad : Sanchayan, Prakash, Lalchanhima, Ginkaholen, Yami, Suranjit, Rahul, Mirshad, Bidyasagar Singh, Brandon, Manoj Mohammed, Gurmukh, Kaushik, Samad Ali (C), Rakshit Dagar (GK), Jobi Justin, Lalrindika Ralte, Laldanmawia, Aidara, Mehtab, Gagandeep, Surabuddin, Al-Amna, Abhra Mondal, Lalramchullova, Kamalpreet Singh, Kingshuk, Acosta, Ubaid Predicted Line-up for East Bengal (4-4-2) : Dagar (GK), Acosta, Mehtab, Kinsghuk, Lalramchullova, Kassim, Amna, Brandon, Laldanmawia, Surabuddin, Jobby " /> Mohun Bagan With Dicka and Henry among the goals along with Arijit Bagui and Azharuddin at the flanks, the Bagan line up is expected to be an unchanged one. The Bagan side have been scoring at tandem in the league so far, thus it should not be a problem for Coach Shankarlal Chakrabarty in picking up the team. Squad : Shilton Paul, Shankar Roy, Kingsley Obumneme, Gurjinder Kumar, Arijit Bagui, Britto PM, Amey Ranawade, Abhishek Ambekar, Lalchhawnkima, Shilton D'Silva, Pintu Mahata, Mehtab Hossain, Sourav Das, Abhinas Ruidas, Tirthankar Sarkar, William Lalnunfela, Dipanda Dicka, Henry Kisekka, Azhuaruddin Mallick, Sourav Das, Abhinas Ruidas, Tirthankar Sarkar, William Lalnunfela, Dipanda Dicka, Henry Kisekka, Azharuddin Mallick, Moinuddin Khan Predicted Line-up for Mohun Bagan (4-4-1-1): Shilton (GK), Ambekar, Gurjinder, Eze Kingsley, Britto, Sourav Das, Shilton de Silva, Arijit Bagui, Pintu Mahata, Kisekka, Dicka Enter caption Key Players East Bengal Mahmoud Al-Amna: Al-Amna's excellent ability of hold up play will provide enough time for the two wingers at the flanks to draw their runs for effective wing play. The Syrian has been instrumental in creating numerous chances upfront in the ongoing Calcutta Football League as well as in the previous season. Al-Amna's presence in the midfield provides stability which is key to East Bengal's chances today as the Bastob Roy led side will play without any foreign forwards unlike the opponents. Mohun Bagan Dipanda Dicka: The Cameroonian has racked up 7 goals in 4 games, making him one of the top strikers in the league. Dicka scored twice in the Kolkata Derby way back in January, making him a household name in Kolkata. The Cameroonian is omnipotent in the box and is at the right place at the right time. With East Bengal all set to field Acosta, the onus will be on Dicka to allow Kisekka free space upfront and notch up the goals. Predictions The Derbies are seldom a high scoring affair, and today's game is no different. With Acosta at the back, East Bengal will surely have a compact and resilient defense but they lack quality upfront. On the contrary, Bagan have some quality names in the striking department with problems at the back. The Derby can finish in a 1-1 draw. Tell us your predictions in the comment section.