League shield winner Mohun Bagan Super Giant will be looking to get back to winning form when it meets its city rival Mohammedan Sporting Club for the first time in an Indian Super League fixture at the Salt Lake Stadium here on Saturday.
The two sides compete in terms of legacy being two of the oldest clubs in the continent with the 135-year-old Mohun Bagan (founded 1889) asserting a seniority of two years over Mohammedan SC which was founded in 1891.
Both sides are comparatively new in the 11-year-old ISL with Mohun Bagan enjoying a seniority of four seasons over Mohammedan Sporting, which is making its debut.
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It now remains to be seen whether the slender edge that Mohun Bagan SG enjoys in terms of chronology can really inspire it to put it against its old city rival. In terms of current form both teams have garnered four points from their first three matches so far.
But both the teams fared differently while visiting South in the previous round. Mohun Bagan was thoroughly outplayed by Bengaluru FC (0-3) while Mohammedan Sporting picked up its first win of the ISL, by downing Chennaiyin FC by a solitary goal.
Mohammedan Sporting will be drawing strength from the fact that it is one of the five teams in ISL which have won their first ‘away’ match and will be looking to repeat this feat when it meets Mohun Bagan in its second ‘away’ fixture.
If it secures a win against the Mariners, the Black Panthers will become the second team in ISL history (after the ATK in the inaugural year in 2014) to notch up wins in the first two away games.
Historically Mohun Bagan has a favourable record against teams it met first in the League. Mohun Bagan has won seven matches and drawn and lost twice each in its 11 games against teams that it faced for the first time in ISL.
It will be trying to draw motivation for this factor and reinstill the faith among the fans, who have been asking questions about head coach Jose Molina’s methods after the loss against Bengaluru FC.
Mohun Bagan has been one of the most consistent sides since it joined the ISL in 2020 and that has increased the yearning of its fans. The fact that is crippling Mohun Bagan is the form and fitness of its foreign contingent, which is making its generally three-man defence vulnerable. The versatile Spanish defender Alberto Rodriguez is battling fitness issues while its Scottish defender Tom Aldred is yet to hit peak form.
Mohun Bagan is yet to register its new Portuguese signing Nuno Reis which means that it has to rely on its old combination when it comes to stringing together a good defence against a side like Mohammedan Sporting, which has a young, agile and motivated squad that plays with good intensity.
Injuries to Manvir Singh and Sahal Abdul Samad is also keeping Molina worried about whether his team will be able to reach that level of performance which has made it the League champion in the previous season.
“We are conceding too many goals. Some of the goals we are conceding due to mistakes at the back but most goals that we are conceding are due to mistakes in attack. To improve in defence, we need to improve in attack. The better we can attack, the better we will defend,” Molina said while trying to analyse the fault lines in the performance that sank the Mariners against Bengaluru.
The Mohammedan Sporting coach Andrey Chernyshov sounded confident after the win against Chennaiyin FC. “This is a new tournament and we are learning from every match. We know we are strong and we want to play good football. I am very happy with my players now as they understood they could play good football and showed that against Chennaiyin after taking lessons from the first two matches. Now they understand they can win matches in ISL and this is really very important for us,” Chernyshov said ahead of the important clash against Mohun Bagan.
