I-League: Mohun Bagan secure away win at Shillong Lajong

Shillong, February 3: Mohun Bagan put on a spectacular performance as they grabbed a stylish 3-0 victory against hosts Shillong Lajong at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Shillong on Saturday (February 3).

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Aser Pierrick Dipanda (30th minute), Akram Moghrabi (86th) and Sheikh Faiaz (89th) scored the winning goals for the Kolkata side to leapfrog their arch-rivals to the third spot on the table with 20 points from 12 outings.

Sankarlal Chakraborty opted to hand Azharuddin a start on the right wing and deployed Nikhil Kadam on the opposite side.

Right from the word go, Mohun Bagan were eager to assert their dominance on the field. Though Shillong Lajong tried to get to the same level, they ended up defending a lot more.

By the 20th minute, Lajong were starting to regain composure as they began to correctly anticipate their opponents' moves. By this time, Mohun Bagan were finding it difficult to hold onto ball possession, which kept depriving them of chances to score an advantage.

However, Mohun Bagan broke the deadlock in the 30th minute from former Lajong player Aser Pierrick Dipanda Dicka, whose brilliant header of a spectacular delivery from Cameron Watson, sent the ball past Lajong goalkeeper Lachenpa and into the back of the net.

Shillong Lajong's best chance in the first half came in the dying minutes of the first half when Lajong's Samuel Lalmuanpuia sent a volley which would have found the back of the net had it not been put away by an acrobatic save from Mohun Bagan goalkeeper Shilton Paul.

A fast-paced second half did not help the hosts as they tried desperately to gain an equalizer which only resulted in a back and forth game with their determined opponents.

The Ivory Coast-based striker Koffi could have found the back of the net but his mistimed header went astray, much to the dismay of the Lajong supporters.

However, in the last 10 minutes of the game, Bagan scored two to take the game away from the hosts.

Akram Moghrabi doubled their lead in the 86th minute, a beautiful calm finish by the Lebanese after the ball was dished out to him on a platter by substitute Raynier.

Any hope by the hosts of salvaging a point from the game was blown away three minutes later when Sheikh Faiaz scored Mohun Bagan's third goal in the 89th minute.

Having bagged all three points from Shillong, the high-flying Mariners will head to Coimbatore to take on Chennai City on February 7, whereas Lajong will face the league leaders Minerva Punjab FC the same day.

Match result: Shillong Lajong FC 0 lost to Mohun Bagan 3 (Asier Pierrick Dipanda 30, Akram Moghrabi 86, Sheikh Faiaz 89)

Source: AIFF Media