- Mohun Bagan SG – 3
(Maclaren 56’90’, Stewart 63’)
- Punjab FC – 0
Kolkata, February 5, 2025: Punjab FC after a valiant first half performance, conceded thrice in the second half as Mohun Bagan Super Giant secured a 3-0 victory and confirmed their place in the playoffs in the Indian Super League fixture which was played here at the Salt Lake Stadium. Jamie Maclaren scored twice while Greg Stewart scored the other for the home side. Punjab FC remained in ninth position in the table with 23 points from 18 matches while Mohun Bagan solidified their position at the top of the table with 46 points from 20 matches.
Punjab FC Head Coach Panagiotis Dilmperis made four changes to his starting line-up fielding them in a 5-3-2 formation. Melroy Assisi, Pramveer Singh and Ivan Novolselec started in the heart of defence. Vinit Rai made a start after November in place of the injured Nikhil Prabhu while Ashis Pradhan made his second start of the season. Ricky Shabong, Ezequiel Pulga Vidal and Petros Giakoumakis were given the responsibility of the attack. On the other end, Jose Molina named his team in a 4-4-2 formation with Jamie Maclaren, Greg Stewart, Liston Colaco and Manvir Singh leading the attack line with Sahal Abdul Samad in support.
Punjab were solid throughout the half maintaining the defensive structure and did not give any space for the home side’s attackers to create any chances. The focal point of the Mariners attack was to play through Greg Stewart, who had 46 touches and the Scotsman was the closest to score in the first half but was denied by Ravi Kumar’s fingertip save. The Shers closed down the other attackers well, especially closing down the prolific Jamie Maclaren who did not have a single touch inside the box with the back five remained organised to keep the scores level into the break.
The Shers started the second half with some attacking intent and should have taken the lead ten minutes after the start. Pulga Vidal found Giakoumakis completely free inside the box and with the goal at his mercy, the Greek striker agonisingly hit the post. They were punished for that miss at the very next minute at the other end. Jamie Maclaren received the ball at the edge of the box from Dippendu Biswas. The Australian turned and his shot found the net past the outstretched hands of Ravi Kumar who could only get a finger touch on it. The Mariners doubled their advantage seven minutes later. Liston Colaco received the ball at the edge of the box and the forward sent in a looping ball into the box which took a slightest touch of Greg Stewart and found the corner of the goal after hitting the post.
The Shers brought in Luka Majcen, Filip Mrzljak, Nihal Sudeesh and Muhammad Suhail for the rest of the match to shore up the attack. The team did have most of the possession in that phase of the game and put pressure on the Mohun Bagan defence but the home side were solid at the back. Ashis Pradhan’s mistake gave the third goal for the home side. Jason Cummings stole the ball from the midfielder who received a pass from the goalkeeper and it fell in the path of Maclaren who rolled the ball into the empty net for his second of the game and put the game beyond the reach of the Shers.
Punjab FC will travel to Bhubaneshwar to face Odisha FC in their next fixture on 10th February which will be played at the Kalinga Stadium.
