Kolkata: The own goal portended trouble. Mohun Bagan had been there in the 2020-21 Indian Super League (ISL) cup final where Mumbai City FC did the double.
But this team is a different beast, one for whom the possibility of a defeat at home does not exist. Mohun Bagan Super Giant absorbed everything Bengaluru FC hit them with – and there was a lot of it – and erased their lead to win 2-1 through goals from Jason Cummings (72nd) and Jamie Maclaren (96th) and bag their first ISL double here on Saturday.
Fittingly, it was Greg Stewart and Maclaren who were the creator and executor of that goal. The Scot has won the cup and the league shield but never the double. His introduction in the 80th minute changed the game. Stewart found Maclaren in 90+2 but the Australian’s first touch let him down before Sahal Abdul Samad was denied. Stewart found Samad again but this time the Mohun Bagan forward took too long. So, regulation time ended 1-1.
But there was no mistake when Stewart played Maclaren through in the 96th. Gurpreet Singh Sandhu had been excellent but could do nothing after Maclaren smartly dragged the ball in front and scored. What better way to make amends for missing a free header in the 75th minute. “I came here to win,” said the highest scorer in A-League history.
Minutes earlier, and for the third time, Alberto Rodriguez’s left foot had nearly scored a self-goal but this time Vishal Kaith pulled off an acrobatic save. Something he could not in the 49th when Ryan Williams’s delivery had gone in off the central defender.
Edgar Mendez barrelling into Rodriguez set the tone for the final where Bengaluru FC were aggressive from the start. Williams was a threat all evening and that meant Liston Colaco was kept quiet, Subhasish Bose busy and Kaith’s goal under pressure. :Credit to Bengaluru for taking us all the way,” Maclaren told the official broadcasters.
Bengaluru FC forced five corner-kicks and off their first, Sunil Chhetri had slipped past his marker and turned a header which Bose blocked. Twice more, Chhetri had become invisible to Bagan and found Williams who could not make use of them.
Chhetri tested Kaith early in the second half and Manvir Singh did likewise at the other end. Then, what seemed another Williams delivery that Mohun Bagan would deal with went in. Bagan had been patient, quietly looking for opportunities but Sandhu had denied a Manvir Singh ball from reaching Cummings and Rahul Bheke had blocked Anirudh Thapa’s shot.
Now they were chasing the game. So, Jose Molina, who now has two ISL final wins having got his first in 2016, brought on Samad and Ashique Kuruniyan and they immediately livened up the left. Cummings tested Sandhu in the 57th leading to Bagan’s first corner-kick and Samad danced into the area forcing a block from Fanai. The tide had turned.
It was from the left that Bagan created the move that won the penalty, their second in successive matches. Cummings had won possession and found Maclaren whose shot took Chinglensana Singh’s hand. Over 59,000 held their breath as “Ice Man” Cummings found the far corner. As the Australian, whose favourite Hindi phrase is “aaram se”, gestured with his hands telling the crowd to relax, the Salt Lake stadium shook.
The amphitheatre was swathed in Mohun Bagan’s colours. Flags doubled up as wraparounds, scarves became bandanas when they were not held up with Mohun Bagan emblazoned on them. Loud hailers cancelled each other as supporters converged on the eastern fringe of the city but what stood out was the chant that asked: “Amra kara?” and the reply “Mohun Bagan.”
Indian football fans have little going for them by way of amenities at the stadium. And yet, like they had all through the season, Mohun Bagan fans filled it up. With a tifo that said: Champions Home, Entry Prohibited. And another which bore the sentence “You said success, we heard Mohun Bagan.” We showed character but without the crowd’s support, we could not have done it, said Bose.