<p>Ten-man Mohun Bagan brilliantly bounced back through a Darryl Duffy goal to down Chennai City FC 2-1 but the result was not enough as they had to settle for a runners-up finish for the second successive time in I-League football here on Sunday.<br /><br />The Bagan-Chennai clash lived up to the expectation as there was high drama starting with the news that Aizawl conceded a ninth minute goal to leave the Rabindra Sarobar home crowd in a frenzy mode.<br /><br />But in the 32nd minute, Mohun Bagan’s U-22 recruit Nanda Kumar silenced the crowd when he darted the ball and scored with a gentle push, showing good presence of mind.<br /><br />What followed was some missed opportunities with Balwant at the receiving end, but Mohun Bagan finally scored the equaliser in the added time of first half through captain Katsumi Yusa.<br /><br />Substitute Jeje Lalpekhlua got the better of Debabrata Roy on the right channel and a cross near the byline saw Duffy place it brilliantly from the first-timed shot to take Mohun Bagan ahead in the 77th minute.<br /><br />But all hell broke loose for the home side when their promising custodian Debjit Majumder was red-carded two minutes later in a seemingly dubious decision when he thwarted Nandakumar Soosai Raj inside the box in what appeared a clean tackle.<br /><br />Arguments and protests with referee Tejas Nagvenkar followed as Shibinraj Kunniyil came in for Majumder but Mohun Bagan held on to the lead till the end.<br /><br /></p>
<p>Ten-man Mohun Bagan brilliantly bounced back through a Darryl Duffy goal to down Chennai City FC 2-1 but the result was not enough as they had to settle for a runners-up finish for the second successive time in I-League football here on Sunday.<br /><br />The Bagan-Chennai clash lived up to the expectation as there was high drama starting with the news that Aizawl conceded a ninth minute goal to leave the Rabindra Sarobar home crowd in a frenzy mode.<br /><br />But in the 32nd minute, Mohun Bagan’s U-22 recruit Nanda Kumar silenced the crowd when he darted the ball and scored with a gentle push, showing good presence of mind.<br /><br />What followed was some missed opportunities with Balwant at the receiving end, but Mohun Bagan finally scored the equaliser in the added time of first half through captain Katsumi Yusa.<br /><br />Substitute Jeje Lalpekhlua got the better of Debabrata Roy on the right channel and a cross near the byline saw Duffy place it brilliantly from the first-timed shot to take Mohun Bagan ahead in the 77th minute.<br /><br />But all hell broke loose for the home side when their promising custodian Debjit Majumder was red-carded two minutes later in a seemingly dubious decision when he thwarted Nandakumar Soosai Raj inside the box in what appeared a clean tackle.<br /><br />Arguments and protests with referee Tejas Nagvenkar followed as Shibinraj Kunniyil came in for Majumder but Mohun Bagan held on to the lead till the end.<br /><br /></p>