With this win, Mohun Bagan went to the top of the MG ISL points table. Punjab FC took an early lead but could not hold on.
Punjab FC started the game very well and shocked the home crowd in the third minute. Sanathoi Meetei gave a good pass to Alfred Planas outside the penalty box. Planas hit a powerful right-footed shot that beat goalkeeper Vishal Kaith and went into the net. Punjab led 1-0.
Mohun Bagan tried to come back quickly. In the sixth minute, Samir Zeljkovic tried a long-range shot but it went wide. Two minutes later, Punjab almost made it 2-0 when Manglenthang Kipgen’s shot from outside the box was saved by Kaith.
Mohun Bagan got a big injury blow in the 12th minute. Star midfielder Sahal Abdul Samad had to go off injured and Anirudh Thapa came on in his place.
The substitution worked for Mohun Bagan. In the 18th minute, Thapa gave a perfect assist to Lee Erwin on the left side of the box. Erwin finished calmly with his left foot into the bottom-right corner to make it 1-1.
After the equaliser, both teams tried to score. In the 22nd minute, Rahul Bheke’s header from Dejan Drazic’s corner went just wide. Punjab also had a chance through Planas but his shot was blocked.
Mohun Bagan finally took the lead in the 42nd minute. This time Erwin turned provider and set up Drazic outside the box. The Serbian midfielder hit a brilliant right-footed shot into the bottom-left corner to make it 2-1 for the hosts.
Punjab goalkeeper Arshdeep Singh kept his team alive before half-time with two good saves from Zeljkovic and Erwin. But Mohun Bagan went into the break with a 2-1 lead.
After the restart, Punjab FC pushed hard for an equaliser while Mohun Bagan looked to score the third goal.
In the 49th minute, Thapa tried a long-range effort that went close. In the 62nd minute, Deepak Tangri’s shot from a corner went just wide.
Punjab kept fighting till the end. In the 75th minute, Planas tested Kaith again with a shot from inside the box. At the other end, Erwin and substitute Liston Colaco both forced good saves from Arshdeep Singh.
In the 87th minute, Tangri again missed the target from outside the box. Punjab pushed hard in the last minutes but Mohun Bagan’s defence under coach Panos Dilmperis stayed strong.
The referee added eight minutes of injury time but Mohun Bagan held on to win 2-1 and take all three points to go top of the ISL table.