Imphal: Kolkata giant Mohun Bagan inched closer to lifting their second I-League title with a convincing 3-1 victory over Manipur's Tiddim Road Athletic Union (TRAU) FC at Khuman Lampak Stadium here on Sunday.
Mohun Bagan's Spanish striker Fran Gonzalez scored his 10th goal of the season, converting a penalty successfully, to go on top of the scoring charts, while compatriot Joseba Beitia and Senegalese striker Papa Babacar Diawara also found the net for the Mariners. All four goals in the match came in the first half with Nigerian Joel Sunday getting one back for the home side.
This was Bagan's seventh win on the trot and extends their unbeaten run to 12 games. It also takes them to 35 points after 14 games, helping to open up a healthy 13-point advantage over second-placed Punjab FC. TRAU, with 16 points from 15 games, remain locked in a relegation battle with city rivals Neroca FC and neighbours Aizawl FC.
Both Bagan and TRAU made three changes to their line-up from their previous games. The Green and Maroons left out three defenders - Daniel Cyrus, Gurjinder Singh and Ashutosh Mehta, and brought in Lalramchullova, Dhanachandra Singh and Komron Tursunov in their place. TRAU began with Premjit Singh, Patrick Uche and Dhanachandra Meetei in place of Shahabaaz, Loken Meetei and Nigerian striker Princewill Emeka, who had started their previous game against Quess East Bengal.
As has been the norm in recently, Bagan took an early lead when Komron Tursunov was adjudged to have been tripped inside the box by Dhanchandra Meetei. Gonzalez converted the resultant penalty with consummate ease.
In the 22nd minute, Dhanachandra passed the ball to Beitia just outside the TRAU box on the Bagan left flank. As Nongdamba Naorem made a dummy run to his left, Beitia played a wall-pass with Suhair to his right to get closer to the box. The ball made its way back from the forward to Beitia, who met it with a delightful right-footed curler which flummoxed Sayan Roy in the TRAU goal and bulged the net.