ISL 2023-24: Why Mohun Bagan crumbled against FC Goa?

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Mohun Bagan Super Giant suffered a crumbling defeat at the hands of FC Goa on Saturday (December 23) in Kolkata.

The Gaurs roared at the Salt Lake stadium and decimated the Mariners with a thumping victory. Noah Sadaoui scored a brace and Carlos Martinez and Victor Rodriguez scored one each as the visitors secured three points with an emphatic 4-1 scoreline.

Mohun Bagan, who won the first five matches in ISL this season, suffered their second defeat in a row and the latest one is a cause of concern. FC Goa had utter and complete domination in the match. Going forward, Sadaoui, Brandon and others looked brilliant, and the defensive pair of Sandesh Jhingan and Odei Onaindia also stood tall against the Bagan forwards.

But was this result for Mohun Bagan coming on the way? Were the previous results just papering over the cracks and now the wind has gone too strong to blow the covers away?

Mohun Bagan's defensive frailties

Mohun Bagan's defensive pair of Glan Martins and Brandon Hamill got tormented by the FC Goa attackers on Saturday. Hector Yuste's brain fade in the Mumbai match has cost them big time in the Goa tie as the two centre-backs were second-best all night.

But even if we see defensively, Mohun Bagan haven't been the best all season. They have conceded 13 goals in the ISL in nine matches, which is worse than 7th-placed East Bengal (8 goals conceded) and 10th-placed Jamshedpur FC (11 goals conceded).

They have only one clean sheet in the last 12 matches across all competitions, and in these 12 matches, the defending ISL champions have conceded 23 goals. So a big question mark is on the defence, which just got exposed horribly on Saturday.

Also the way the likes of Deepak Tangri, Glan Martins got bamboozled by Noah Sadaoui is a big cause for concern for the Mariners' boss.

Lack of Cohesion in Midfield and Attack

Mohun Bagan's midfield was poor on Saturday, which is quite uncharacteristic of them. The likes of Anirudh Thapa, Dimitri Petratos tried but failed to make inroads in the Goa defence. Also their wing-backs had minimal effect in the match.

In terms of the attacks, Mohun Bagan had a night to forget. Jason Cummings, Armando Sadiku and others were subdued. But credit has to be given to the Goa defenders as well, who stood like gladiators and had answer for every Mariners question.

The early Manvir penalty didn't help the Kolkata team. It was a body blow so early in the match, which was exploited further by the away side during the first half. Mohun Bagan slipped to a three-goal deficit in the first half and had no way out from there.