ISL: Mohun Bagan complete historic league, Cup double over Bengaluru FC

Kolkata: If winning is a habit, trust Mohun Bagan SG to make it a magical monotony at home this season.
Let them face the biggest of challenges, let them have all sorts of odds stacked against them and let them be forced to trail with a title at stake. But invariably and unflinchingly, expect Jose Molina’s men to find a way out of the crisis and have the last laugh.
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Bengaluru FC learnt this in quite a compelling way at the Salt Lake Stadium. Gerard Zaragoza’s visitors were welcomed to the Bagan’s formidable fortress with a giant tifo from the home fans — “Champion’s home, entry prohibited.”
Yet they silenced the thunderous crowd when Alberto Rodriguez was forced into conceding an own goal while dealing with Ryan Williams’ centre in the 49th minute.

Jason Cummings’ penalty in the 72nd minute and Jamie Maclaren’s poacher’s goal six minutes into the first half of extra time were all Bagan required to script a turnaround in a 2-1 win here on Saturday and become the second team after Mumbai City FC to complete the Indian Super League double.
A year ago, Bagan lost a similar opportunity to Mumbai City at the same place. But this season they seemed to be a different beast, assuming a juggernaut crushing one opponent after another at home to stretch their winning run to 14 matches. Two months after sealing their back-to-back Shield, they deservedly lifted the ISL Cup in front of 59,112 spectators.

It’s quite a journey for Molina’s men. Nine months ago, BFC inflicted the heaviest defeat on them (0-3), putting Molina’s Bagan project under serious question mark. Now claiming the double at BFC’s expense should come as completion of a circle for the winners.
Bagan began in a way culled straight from their playbook, setting the alarm bells ringing in the all-Indian rival defence with some trademark moves from the wings. Having somehow managed to weather that storm, BFC started to establish a more recognizable rhythm. BFC duly and deservedly went ahead soon after the restart. It started with another incisive run from Ryan Williams down the right and the Australian delivered an inviting cross. Rodriguez ended up miskicking it into his own.

Molina sought intervention from the bench. The introduction of Ashique Kuruniyan and Sahal Abdul Samad brought pace and panache to the attack. When Cummings swivelled to take aim, it looked destined for a goal but Gurpreet denied him. But BFC caved in to Bagan’s constant pressure.
As Maclaren tried to get past Chinglensana Singh following Cummings’ centre, the ball touched the BFC centre-back’s hands, forcing referee Senthil Nathan to point to the spot. Cummings made no mistake in beating Gurpreet.
Maclaren then provided the coup de grace.