ISL Diary: Mohun Bagan takes derby bragging rights, Goa missing its 12th man

The City of Joy is truly a sight to behold on the day of the Kolkata Derby. Despite the repetition of age-old routines involving fan banter on the road and the smearing of the fabled Red-Gold and Green-Maroon colours in the air, these rituals have stood the test of time and have not succumbed to monotony. On the contrary, it is what the metropolis celebrates every time with pomp.

As the Diary cruised past the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass — a long stretch of road leading to the Salt Lake Stadium — the pre-match rituals were a welcome sight for sore eyes, with the Diary having missed the Kolkata Derby for the past few years.

While the Bagan fan chants boomed through the speakers atop vehicles, East Bengal’s fans seemed comparatively subdued, given their team’s torrid start to the Indian Super League 2024-25 season.

As kick-off neared, the respective fanbases waged their own battles from the stands by unfurling tifos and taking digs at each other. While Bagan’s fans exuded confidence in their demeanour, loyalists of the Red and Gold Brigade hoped for a twist.

However, the script did not deliver a surprise. Bagan triumphed over its arch-rival by a 2-0 scoreline, leaving East Bengal without a single point from its first five outings.

Prabhsukhan Gill spared the blushes for the home team with a couple of excellent saves but eventually crumbled under the pressure exerted by Australians Jamie Maclaren and Dimitrios Petratos, who scored in the first and second halves, respectively, to seal the win for the Mariners, the better team on the night.

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East Bengal’s new head coach Oscar Bruzon, who stayed in the dugout despite arriving in the wee hours of Derby Day, said his immediate priority is to get the team in shape and set realistic goals for the rest of the season.

Aneesh Dey

Goa missing its 12th man

Beaches, music, booze, and football — Goa has it all. Football has long been a staple among Goans, though in recent times, interest in the sport has been waning. Dempo SC, Churchill Brothers and Salgaocar SC, once powerhouses in Indian football, have been pushed to the wayside.

The ISL gave birth to FC Goa, which has done all the right things and strived hard to fly the flag high for football in the state.

In the glitzy inaugural marquee season of 2014, FC Goa’s lowest attendance was close to 16,000 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. However, in 2024, despite having established itself as one of the premier football clubs in the country, it is struggling to pull in the same numbers, even for its highest recorded attendance.

Match-going fans are a crucial part of any sports team, capable of uplifting its players. “Since coronavirus, not many people come for matches here,” explains Trevor, a retired policeman, sitting on a cement slab next to a tea shop facing the stadium.

Before the pandemic, Goa averaged between 16,000 and 17,000 spectators during the Sergio Lobera years from 2017 to 2020. Lobera’s Goa was the team to watch: free-flowing, breakneck-speed football, with Ahmed Jahouh and Hugo Boumous pulling off the unthinkable, and Ferran Corominas scoring for fun.

But even that didn’t intrigue Trevor, though. “I have never watched a football game. I am a cricket fan. If they play cricket, I will go and watch,” he chuckles. The closed-door matches during the pandemic from 2020 to 2022 hurt not just Goa but other ISL clubs too.

But Goa’s failures on the pitch have also played a part. When the goals and points dried up, the gate receipts dwindled as well.

When the experienced Manolo Márquez arrived in 2023, there was renewed hope. But things have not improved this season. With five points from as many games, this is Goa’s worst start to a campaign since 2016.

For its part, the club slashed ticket prices for the much-anticipated clash against Mumbai City FC. The lowest ticket price was set at ₹49, nearly five times less than the original price.

This comes as the club has announced it cannot afford the stadium’s rental fee. Earlier last week, FC Goa CEO Ravi Puskar disclosed that the club had to shell out a whopping INR 45 lakh to host a game and sought assistance from the government.

“We may have to shift to smaller venues because we may not be able to afford it anymore. If the ground and operating charges come down, which can happen if we have the support of the entire support system, we can make the ground accessible to everyone. It is not our intention to price out the fans,” said Puskar.

Yet, on a sultry late-evening clash — a respite from the incessant monsoon showers in the region — the club managed a season-high attendance of only 11,824.

“For me, it’s the team that has to show some things…then the crowd will come to the stadium. I feel this team will soon be a very competitive one,” Márquez promised before the game.

But on the pitch, there weren’t many moments that elicited cheers from the stands. It was the handful of Mumbai City faithful who had the last laugh as Goa lost its second home game of the season.

Aashin Prasad

A medley of dhak, prawns and goals

In the city’s football circuit, the beautiful game welcomed Pujo in its own way. Despite heavy rain before the match and the sky frowning with grey clouds, thousands turned up for the game.

“I have been supporting the club since I was about nine. I watched the first match of Mohammedan Sporting at Yuva Bharati Krirangan, and my father was a club official.

“We won that match 5-0, and from that day, we have been die-hard Mohammedan fans,” Shahadat Siddique said, holding the match tickets in his hand, waiting to get into the stadium.

Minutes before kick-off, the clouds parted as fans with flags and tifos marched from either end to the Salt Lake Stadium.

Flares in Mohun Bagan colours filled the air with suspense, and the response echoed through a giant tifo on the southern stand: ‘All my sons will be like me.’

When the match began, every kick became a heartbeat, every miss a heartbreak.

Mohun Bagan earned the rights for the drumroll, with the dhak, goals, and more.
Santanu Biswas/Focus Sports/ FSDL
| Photo Credit:
Dipayan Bose

By the end of 90 minutes, it was the chingri (prawns, one of the many symbols of Mohun Bagan) that had the last laugh over the Kolkata biryani.

Mohun Bagan scored three goals in 36 minutes and comfortably held onto that lead until the end, giving its fans enough reason to return home with roars of ‘Joy Mohun Bagan!’ from matadors, open cars, and packed buses bustling through the concrete jungle.

The win almost marked the beginning of Durga Puja in the city, and it was Mohun Bagan that earned the rights for the drumroll, with the dhak, goals, and more.

Neeladri Bhattacharjee