Mohun Bagan spice up fight for League Shield with narrow win against Punjab FC

NEW DELHI: Dimitrios Petratos scored the lone goal as Mohun Bagan Super Giant (MBSG) defeated Punjab FC 1-0 as the Mariners kept afloat their hopes of clinching the League Winners Shield of the Indian Super League (ISL) 2023-24 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Saturday.

Petratos's strike in the 42nd minute, which made him the outright highest goal-scorer for the Mariners in the ISL history, ensured that the Antonio Lopez Habas-coached side suffered no more hiccups in catching up to the top-placed Mumbai City FC. With this defeat, Punjab FC have effectively crashed out of the race to qualify for the playoffs. They remain in 10th position with 21 points from 21 matches.

The Kolkata-based team now has 42 points in 20 games, two behind the Islanders (44), and hence the Mariners have all to play for especially considering that the two teams clash on the final day of the league stages on April 15 at the Salt Lake Stadium.

The Mariners’ offensive trio of Petratos, Armando Sadiku, and Jason Cummings have been critical in bolstering their chances in front of the opponent’s goal lately, and this game was no different to that. Petratos first tested Punjab FC goalkeeper Ravi Kumar in the 14th minute of the game, in a move where it seemed that he had rushed to the attempt that was initially brought about by livewire winger Manvir Singh.

Manvir had cut into the box from the left, and laid the ball to Petratos, hoping for a pass back from the striker. However, the attacker immediately launched a left-footed effort, which unfortunately didn’t have enough power behind it to trouble the Punjab FC custodian.

Around 13 minutes later, Mohun Bagan Super Giant fullback Asish Rai sprung back into action, spearheading the ball forward on the right flank before cutting in a delivery for Cummings. The forward attempted a shot from a distance, but that arguably ended up against him as his effort didn’t trouble the target at all.

These regular endeavours were bound to deliver results at some point though, and so they did. Petratos had been hovering around the Punjab FC box tirelessly, as he seemed in a mood to produce another one of his breath-taking shots from outside of the box. That bore fruits, with a sweet effort from the left side by the striker getting slotted in right into the centre of the net to result in the eventual winner of the contest in the 42nd minute of the game.

Punjab FC did not let the game slip away from them easily though. The duo of Wilmar Jordan Gil and Luka Majcen toiled hard to find the equaliser. With Madih Talal arguably operating out of a slightly deeper role, he delivered passes for Gil that the striker tried to set up for Majcen at various intervals during the game. However, a disciplined Mariners’ defence, which was equally industrious in its offensive moves, ensured that they didn’t let any goals slip from their end.

Mohun Bagan Super Giant will play their next game against Bengaluru FC on April 11, whereas Punjab FC’s next fixture is against East Bengal FC on April 10.