Thaindian News

Kolkata, Nov 20 (IANS) Odafa Okolie fired home a penalty as Mohun Bagan scraped past arch-rivals East Bengal 1-0 in an I-League match before a 90,000 strong crowd at the Salt Lake Stadium Sunday.

The spotkick was awarded when Uga Opara brought down Sunil Chhetri inside the box, and Okolie made no mistake with the easiest of deadball situations. After six games, Mohun Bagan are now second with 15 points, while East Bengal stay on 10.

East Bengal dearly missed the services of the suspended Tolgay Ozbey upfront and their attacks lacked sting.

The match was restricted to the midfield in the initial minutes, before East Bengal upfronter Alan Gow essayed a short overhead ball to Robin Singh who laid it back for Alan, but the Scott was flashed the yellow card for diving.

In the 18th minute, Ukpara fumbled as he let the ball bounce to a free Sunil Chetri in the box. Ukpara tried to save the situation with sliding tackle which the referee judged improper and awarded a penalty to Bagan which proved productive.

East Bengal started pounding the Mohun bagan goal with relentless moves, but the green and maroon custodian saved a Sanjhu Pradhan attempt and some time later dived full length to thwart Robin Singh’s effort.

On the other side, Chhetri missed a golden chance to kill the match in the 78th minute when he failed to tap in a Odafa pass with East Bengal shot stopper Gurpreet Singh at his mercy.