I-League: Mohun Bagan down Bengaluru 2-0

Mohun Bagan extended their unbeaten streak in the I-League by defeating Bengaluru FC 2-0 in an encounter here on Saturday.

Striker Jeje Lalpekhlua (73rd) scored the first of the night for the visitors and then talismanic Haitian midfielder Sony Norde (90+4) scored in second half injury time to double his side's advantage.

The game also witnessed a red card as Lalchhuanmawia was sent off after two bookings.

With the win, Mohun Bagan replace arch-rivals East Bengal on the second spot of the points table with 14 points. They are a rung below Bengaluru who are at the top with 15.

The visitors were quick to get off the blocks and ensured the Bengaluru defence was under pressure from the outset.

Norde, and Katsumi Yusa tried grabbing an early goal for Bagan. Jeje almost succeeded in heading one in the 11th minute but his effort was just inches wide off the target.

After settling down a bit, the hosts tried to emulate their opponents. Sunil Chhetri got into his stride and let one fly but his shot was easily collected by Bagan goalkeeper Debjit Mazumder. Before the attempt, the Bengaluru skipper had appealed for a penalty but his shout was turned down.

At the 30th minute mark, Kean Lewis had his chance to put the visitors ahead. He did all the hard work skipping past three defenders but his shot fizzed just wide of the post.

It was all square for the teams at halftime.

Chances came in numbers after the restart. For a few minutes, every Bengaluru attack had a counter attack. Both defences, however, did not yield under such pressure.

At the 61st minute mark, Lalchhuanmawia was shown the red card which reduced the hosts to 10-men.

Bagan took advantage of their numerical supremacy and started creating a few chances. At the 73rd minute, Norde found Jeje with a crisp pass and the latter after darting forward into the box beat rival custodian Amrinder Singh with a strong shot.

Bengaluru in desperation increased the number of players forward, but they could only come up with very ordinary attempts on the Bagan goal.

With only seconds left on the clock, Norde who had been working tirelessly throughout got his chance to get onto the scoresheet and he grabbed it with both hands by beating Amrinder from close range.