Mohun Bagan seek knockout berth in AFC Cup

On a high after a 5-0 drubbing of I-League champions Bengaluru FC, Mohun Bagan would look to seal a Round of 16 berth when they lock horns with Maziya Sports & Recreation of Maldives in the AFC Cup football here tomorrow.
Having won three of their four matches in the second-tier continental club tournament, group leaders Mohun Bagan are aware that even a draw would be enough to assure themselves a place in the next round. They currently have 10 points.
Their opponents at the National Stadium tomorrow, Maziya Sports & Recreation, with five points, are lying third in Group G with a solitary win in four outings. Two of their games ended in defeats and one was a draw.

In their last game, Mohun Bagan played out a 1-1 draw against Yangon United in their away match to put themselves on the verge of booking a historic knockout berth. Trinidadian striker Glen Cornell scored the equalising goal in the 41st minute after Brazilian forward Adilson Dos Santos had put Yangon in front in the 25th minute at the Youth Training Centre.
Even as that result ended Mohun Bagan's winning streak of three games, it was a creditable show by Sanjoy Sen's boys to come out unscathed in an away match, more so after four winless matches in the domestic league. The dethroned national champion ended their campaign in I-League on a rousing note to finish second overall.

The Kolkata heavyweights will take on South China of Hong Kong in Guwahati on May 11 in their last group game.
The table toppers and second-placed teams of each of the eight groups will qualify for the Round of 16 in the club competition.
Mohun Bagan have never qualified for the knockout round of the AFC Cup, having exited at the group stage in 2007 and 2009.