Indian Super League: Manvir’s late goal helps Mohun Bagan escape to victory

Vishal Kaith and missed chances cost Chennaiyin FC in the 0-1 defeat.

Liston Colaco showed Mohun Bagan Super Giant head coach Panos Dilmperis why he should be in the starting 11 and not come in as a substitute in the 82nd minute. His cross from the left was hung perfectly at the far post for Manvir Singh to chest home in the 85th minute. With that, Mohun Bagan Super Giant escaped to victory against Chennaiyin FC on Monday, a performance that had Dilmperis apologising.

Manvir Singh scores the winner against Chennaiyin FC at home. (ISL)

Chenniayin FC could have salvaged a point with the last kick of the match but Ramon Andrade de Souza volleyed out. “I thought he would score,” Chennaiyin FC head coach Clifford Miranda said of the shot from the hard-working Brazilian. It was the story of their night at the nearly-empty Salt Lake stadium with Kolkata still recovering from the revelry of Durga Puja.

Vishal Kaith being busier of the goalkeepers meant that Mohun Bagan would have been more eager for half-time in their first home game of the season in ISL13. As they would have been at the water break earlier. Allowed time and space, Nikola Stojanovic and Mehdi Talal were running the game. But for poor finishing, the visitors could have wrapped this up by the halfway stage.

Brison Fernandes shanked a shot early before Irfan Yadwad forced a save off Kaith. Left-back Saheef then hit the side-netting with Kaith out of position following a free-kick from Stojanovic in the 37th. Three minutes earlier, Namgyal Bhutia couldn’t control a pass from Stojanovic and his shot didn’t trouble Kaith.

Second half began like the first ended and again it was Kaith – their best player, according to the Bagan head coach – who kept the team in the game with a smart save off a Yadwad grounder. Another poor effort from Bhutia was followed by one from Souza which needed a save from Kaith. The battering continued with Stojanovic banging into the horizontal before bringing out another save from Kaith at the near post. The 31-year-old Serbian put his arms in the air in frustration.

By then, Mohun Bagan had changed formation so many times that maybe the players were confused. “The 4-4-2 was not working and they had an extra player in the midfield,” Dilmperis told the official broadcasters in a flash interview. Starting with a back four was surprising given that it was after they switched to wing backs that the game against Sporting Delhi went their way.

Mohun Bagan changed to a back three and were again with four defenders in the second half to accommodate Sahal Abdul Samad. Lallianzuala Chhangte had made way for Samad at half-time but because no one could play left wingback, Mohun Bagan had to move Mehtab Singh to right back. Just like they had started.

Then, Rahul Bheke made way for Subhasish Bose. Having started with Abhishek Tekcham as left back when he is more comfortable playing on the other side of defence, Mohun Bagan brought on a specialist left-back who cannot make the first team. It meant Mehtab Singh had to shift inside. This felt like a jigsaw puzzle with the wrong clues.

But such is the weight of Mohun Bagan’s attacking arsenal that Manvir Singh came close with a header on the run after Samir Zelkovic and Lee Irwin had combined to force a save from Mohammad Nawaz in the 38th minute. Two minutes earlier, Zelkovic found Irwin who headed it down only for Dejan Drazic to blast over. By then, the television cameras had caught Jose Ramirez Barreto in the stands and it was a stark reminder of how both teams missed a striker of his quality.

With 25 attempts, Chennaiyin FC, like they had against Bengaluru FC, had six on target. From 17, Mohun Bagan had seven; Colaco’s left-footed delivery making the difference after Bose and Irwin combined to find the fleet-footed wide forward.

“We are disappointed for the fans and I would like to apologise,” said Dilmperis. “We made unforced errors that caused anxiety. We are lucky to get three points.”

Mohun Bagan have six points from three rounds, and Chennaiyin one from as many. Dilmperis has four days to sort out a number of issues before his former team Punjab FC come calling.