I-League 2017-18: 10-man Mohun Bagan held to 1-1 draw by visitors Shillong Lajong

Kolkata: Less-fancied Shillong Lajong held favourites but depleted Mohun Bagan to a 1-1 draw in an I-League encounter at the Salt lake Stadium on Thursday. Mohun Bagan took the lead in the 12th minute when Aser Pierrick Dipanda Dicka scored from the spot. But Lajong’s 19-year-old captain Samuel Lalmuanpuia equalised for the visitors from the penalty spot in the 72nd before the Mariners were reduced to 10 players. [caption id=“attachment_4259777” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Mohun Bagan and Shillong Lajong FC players in action. Image courtesy: Twitter @lajongfc[/caption] It was Sheikh Faiaz who was brought down inside the box by Rakesh Pradhan and Dicka took the full responsibility in absence of Sony Norde to fire in and give Bagan the lead. The highest goal scorer of last season scored his third goal of the season and also showed a fine gesture by dedicating the goal to fellow player Yuta Kinowaki. Kinowaki is down with a collarbone injury and has been ruled out for about a month. Then Mohun Bagan’s Eze Kingsley picked up his second yellow card to reduce the hosts to 10 players with 17 minutes left. Debnath then brought down Shillong Lajong’s Yemeni forward Aiman Al-Hagri inside the box in the second half to concede a penalty and their young captain Lalmuanpuia converted with a powerful spotkick. A desperate Mohun Bagan tried their best at the fag end of the match but it was Lajong goalkeeper Phurba Lachenpa who stood tall as the home team dropped points for the second time in four matches. Mohun Bagan, however, remain on second place with eight points, one clear of Shillong Lajong in the standings led by Minerva (10). Having hit by injuries in their 5-0 rout of Churchill Brothers at the Barasat artificial turf, Mohun Bagan were forced to make a slurry of changes. Shilton d’Silva replaced injured Japanese midfielder Yuta Kinowaki at right back, while Norde and Kromah remained out of the squad with Naro Hari Srestha and Dipendu Dowary taking their places respectively. Arijit Bagui was replaced with Abhishek Das at right back in Sanjoy Sen’s 4-4-1-1 formation.