Mohun Bagan today was held by Mahindra United to a 1-1 draw and reached semi finals having topped the group with better goal average than Mahindra.

The match was a keenly contested one, with the first half totally belonging to Mohun Bagan but in the latter half Mahindra dominated proceedings.

Mohun Bagan started the match in 4-2-3-1 combination with only one change in its first lineup from last match, Shilton replacing injured Sangram.

In 5th minute, Muritala gave a through pass to Md. Rafi which he shot out from close range, Shilton having charged out and narrowing the angle. Within a span of 2 minutes, two efforts of Chiddi just did not convert into goal. In the first one, from Marcos' corner Chiddi's header went over crossbar, and in the next attack from long throw of Mohanraj, Chiddi took a weak left footed shot that was saved by Subhasish in goalline. Mohun Bagan took the lead in 23rd minute. Micky snatched the ball in midfield and the ball went to James Singh via Marcos in right flank. James took the ball from his right foot to left foot and crossed the ball to perfection which went straight to Snehasish who nicely leaped and timed his head that went into goal deflecting off Subhasish's outstretched hand.

In 27th minute, Chiddi got a loose ball but his shot unluckily took a deflection off a Mahindra player who was lying down inside penalty box and went out.

Just before lemon break, James and Surkumar combined well down the right flank and the latter's center went to Kuluthungan but he could not trap the ball properly missing a chance to score.

In first half, Mariners played really well and got quite a few chances to score. However, after lemon break, the visitors gained composure and equalized in the very first minute. From K. Aseem's cross from left flank, Suetozar headed the ball which went to back of the net making the scoreline 1-1.

Karim then replaced Snehasish with Santa Kumar. In 57th minute, there was a scuffle between the players when Muritala had fouled Dipak, Marcos and Muritala received yellow card. There were two close shaves for Mohun Bagan goal when Muritala and Suetozar's efforts went out. In 70th minute, Sushil Singh got a forward pass and missed an easy chance when his shot kissed the bar and went out. In the next minute, Shilton made a brilliant save when his outstretched hand prevented the header of Suetozar from going inside goal.

In 73rd minute, coach Karim brought in Subha Kumar in place of Kuluthungan who did not have a good match today, but this change also did not reap much dividend as Mahindra continued their attacking play. Mohun Bagan tried to break via counter attack but could not score any more goal and the match ended in 1-1.

For Mariners, Marcos, Shilton and Dipak had a very good game. The midfield played well in first half but looked a little disoriented in second half. Mohanraj and Santa Kumar also could not perform to their expectation. Micky who was so good in first half somehow got stuck after break. Surkumar was very good during overlap but few times lost possession easily and Mahindra caused panic from counter attack. May be only 1 day rest between matches and the trying condition caused problems for Mohun Bagan players in 2nd half.

Mohun Bagan thus reached semi finals of IFA Shield where they will play against Chirag United on September 9th.

After match coach Karim said, "Today we had a very good first half and we slowed down a little bit in second half, Mahindra played well in the later half. I am not giving excuse but there are quite a few points I would like to put forward. Mahindra had 5 days gap between the two matches while we had only 1 day gap. Many of our players in defence line like Mohanraj, Dipak, Rakesh they are fit but had not played many matches in the new season. Rakesh only had played in Barcelona when he came in as substitute. Dipak and Rakesh both are playing in central defence after a long time, one of them was playing in side back and the other one in midfield, so they need a little time to adjust, but still they both tried their best and fought valiantly. All the players tried their best and we have reached the semi finals. Chirag is a good team and we will have to perform well to beat them."

The players who played in first XI today will have a rest day tomorrow and there will be practice for full team on September 8th at 10.30 am in Salt Lake Stadium.

YELLOW CARD: Dipak Mandal, Micky Fernandez, and Marcos Pereira

PICTURE COURTESY: SUBIR MAJUMDER

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Match Highlights

Result - Mohun Bagan : 1 - 1 : Mahindra

Team	Shilton Paul, Micky Fernandez, Lukram James Singh, Snehasish Chakraborty, Marcos Alexandro de Carvalho Pereira, Surkumar Singh, N Mohan Raj, Deepak Mondal, Rakesh Masih, Kuluthungan, Chidi Edeh,
Replacements	Snehasish Chakraborty , ( out - 56), Kuluthungan , ( out - 71), Lukram James Singh , ( out - 99), Santa Kumar , ( in - 56), Subho Kumar , ( in - 71), Sagram Mandi , ( in - 99),
MB Goals	Snehasish Chakraborty ( 23 min ),
Opp Goals	Sveto ( 46 min ),
MB Cards	Micky Fernandez ( 21 min - Booked) , Deepak Mondal ( 87 min - Booked) ,
MB MoM