Mohun Bagan hold Aizawl in I-League tie

Aizawl  :  Mohun Bagan rode on a late strike by Manandeep Singh to hold defending champions Aizawl FC 1-1 in an I-League encounter here on Thursday.

Khawlrhing Lalthathanga (73rd minute) had struck late in the second half to hand Aizawl the lead.

But Mohun Bagan struck back just five minutes later when their forward Akram Moghrabi was at the receiving end of an ill-timed tackle by Aizawl goalkeeper Avilash Paul inside the penalty box.

Manandeep stepped forward to blast the resultant penalty past Paul and bring Mohun Bagan back on level terms.

Aizawl's Liberian star Alfred Kemah Jaryan was shown the red card a minute before the end of regulation time for a rash tackle on Moghrabi.

The result saw Mohun Bagan climb one rung to displace Shillong Lajong FC from the fourth spot in the league table. They are on 17 points from 11 matches, two points below third placed arch-rivals East Bengal.

Lajong are also on 17 points, but have been pushed down to the fifth spot as Mohun Bagan enjoy a better goal difference.

Aizawl remain sixth in the 10-team league table with 15 points from 10 matches.

Aizawl's head coach Paulo Menezes made two changes to their starting XI as David Rinmuana and Lalhriatrenga were slotted in place of the injured Kareem Omolaja and Lalthathanga Khawlhring. 

The visitors made a sole change in their starting XI with Rana Gharami replacing Kingshuk Debnath.

Before the clock struck even a minute, Aizawl's Japanese striker Yugo Kobayashi was booked for his challenge on former Aizawl defender Eze Kingsley. David's return proved to be of immense importance as the hosts dominated ball possession.

But it was the visitors who registered the first shot of the match after Lebanese striker Moghrabi was brought down on the edge of the box. 

Cameron Watson stepped up to take the free-kick but his effort went straight to Aizawl goalkeeper Avilash Paul.

The hosts had a superb chance to take the lead but Albert couldn't steer his shot towards the target. After playing out a plethora of passes, Albert skipped past Kingsley but eventually, his shot from inside the box was off the mark. 

David then tried his luck from 25 yards but the midfield maestro couldn't engineer his shot towards the target.

Dodoz stole the ball in the Mohun Bagan half as he was intercepted by Kingsley and the first 45 minutes ended without too much goalmouth action.

The second half proved to be a much different scenario as both teams gunned for the maximum. The first chance fell to Romanian midfielder Andrei Ionescu but the midfielder could not pull the trigger as the Bagan boys intercepted.

In the second half, Aizawl hit the pedal in their search for the decisive goal and in came Khawlrhing who scored the first goal of the match. 

Dodoz tormented Bagan right-back Arijit Bagui before delivering a cross towards the Mohun Bagan goal. Albeit Puitea's first attempt was superbly palmed away by Mohun Bagan custodian Shilton Paul but the ball ricocheted off the crossbar and Khawlrhing scored off the rebound. 

The celebrations by the Aizawl fans were not yet over when Mohun Bagan were awarded a penalty as Moghrabi was brought down inside the penalty box after a challenge from Paul.

Manandeep stepped up and made no mistake as he wrongfooted the goalkeeper to level the scores. 

The tempo boiled over towards the end of the game and Moghrabi was the centre of attention once again. Aizawl captain Jaryan fouled the Mohun Bagan striker and was given his marching orders by the referee, much to the dismay of the player and the local fans.