Mohun Bagan vs Downtown Heroes, Durand Cup 2024: Mariners win first match of season with lone goal from Suhail Bhat

Add as a preferred source on Google

Toothless Mohun Bagan began their title defence in Durand Cup 2024 with a rather lacklustre performance. A late goal from Suhail Half in the second half, saw the Mariners etch out a 1-0 win over Downtown Heroes. With 3 points in the bag, the Green and Maroon brigade will be keen to carry on their good form in their upcoming matches.

Mohun Bagan began the game on a positive note, ready to pounce on their opposition. An early goal would surely settle the nerves and that is exactly what the Mariners were keen to achieve. Downtown weren’t too far behind, out of a quick counter attack, forward Asrar Rehber fancied a run down the right flank but his shot at Mohun Bagan goalie Zahid Bukhari was far too weak.

At the 14th minute of the game, Mohun Bagan got a free kick at the far right flank. Taison Singh whipped in a devilish inswinger. However, the Downtown goalie Umaid covered the freekick but got injured for a brief time.

At the half hour mark, the Mariners stitched a good attack. Taison Singh left the Downtown Heroes lying down with his fancy dribbles. He squared the ball inside the box to Suhail Bhat who missed it.

At the 34th minute mark Downtown came extremely close in opening the scoring. The Srinagar based side outclassed the Mariner’s midfield to pass it on to their forward Darius Snorton. But the Liberian forward’s shot whiskered past the post. Eventually the first half ended with none of the sides bothering the scoreboard.

The second half started on a slow note. Downtown made a half time change swapping forward Aafreen with Imad. The Kashmiri side made yet another change at the 55th minute mark bringing in Giglio in place of Tariq. Both sides continued to play half heartedly, unable to bother the goal.

At the 70th minute mark, Downtown came close to striking the blow to the Mariners, but nothing doing. Mohun Bagan’s goalie completely misses the ball but Downtown failed to convert their chances.

But the breakthrough came in the 73rd minute. Mohun Bagan stitched a good attack. Glan layed it off to Taison who switched to Asish Rai on the right flank. The right back then laid a perfect pass only for ace forward Suhail Bhat to tap it into the back of the empty net.

Calamity struck for the Mariners at the 80th minute mark. In their bid to clear a counter attack, both Sumit Rathi and goalie Zahid Bukhari collided with each other. Eventually, Both the players were substituted. Dheeraj came on to keep in the final 10 minutes of the match. On the other hand, Sumit Rathi had to be stretchered off. Saurabh Bhanwala replaced the defender.

At the 90 minute mark, a huge chunk of added time, i.e 8 minutes was awarded owing to the multiple injuries in the game. With nothing done in the added time, Mohun Bagan, albeit with a lacklustre performance, began their title defence with a win.