How does one feel when the champion of the topmost knock-out football tournament of a country loses its right to play in the first division of the country's professional league? Well the answer is not known but East Bengal Club of Calcutta may be at the receiving end of this situation at the end of February this year when the inaugural I-League gets concluded. East Bengal Club, who had won the Federation Cup earlier this season, suffered their eighth loss of this I-League as they went down 0-2 to arch rivals Mohun Bagan AC in the crunch derby played at the Saltlake Stadium on Monday, January 21. Both the goals of the match came from Mohun Bagan and India skipper Baichung Bhutia, who thus increased his tally to eight goals and remains the only Indian among the top ten scorers of this I-League.

East Bengal was playing the first match since the appointment of their new coach Manoranjan Bhattacharya and the target was clear in front of them. They needed no less than three points to loosen the noose of relegation. On the other hand, Mohun Bagan was also looking for full points in order to secure a position in the top three. The atmosphere was tensed from the beginning and two yellow cards, one for each side, within the first ten minutes do justify the perseverance of the two teams. Mohun Bagan started as the clear favourites, but it was East Bengal who looked more organised at the start. The red-and-gold outfit had a good chance of scoring in the 14th minute when Mehtab Hussain got a little bit of free ground but Bagan was saved by defensive medio Douglas da Silva, who barely avoided scoring an own goal. A couple of minutes later, Bagan fullback NS Manju made a defensive howler and deposited the ball into Surkumar Singh's legs, but his shot went wide over the crossbar. Two minutes later, in the 18th minute of the match, a chance was created on the other side of the field. Bagan right-back Habibur Rehman Mondal let in a cross and the ball slipped out of East Bengal goalie Subrata Pal's grip. Jose Ramirez Barreto who was in close vicinity was just evaded by Surkumar. The teams were desperate to put on some show, but the game never reached top gear and the players were frequently seen arguing among themselves. The green-and-maroon brigade took the lead in the 29th minute. The striking duo of Jose Ramirez Barreto and Baichung Bhutia ran into the East Bengal half; Barreto, running though the left, received a ball from the centre circle and sent a measured pass for Baichung, keeping three East Bengal defenders Surkumar, Bolaji and Debabrata stranded. The India captain, running into the right edge of the box, got hold of the ball and shot past the rival goalie from a difficult angle. The goal pumped confidence into the Mariners and they could have doubled their lead five minutes later, when a James Singh cross was missed by Baichung and fell for Dharamjit Singh via Douglas, but Dharamjit's goal-bound shot got deflected off a defender for a corner. Baichung Bhutia got a chance to increase his tally in the 40th minute, but he was denied by Subrata Pal. However, the same Subrata might have paid for his howler just four minutes before the breather, when his goal-kick went straight to Baichung, but the final shot taken by James Singh was cleared well by Subrata himself.

The East Bengal coach brought Snehasis Chakraborty as a half-time substitute in place of left-back Saumik Dey in order to strengthen his attacks. Three minutes into the second half, the red-and-gold got an unexpected lifeline. Brazilian Douglas da Silva, who was booked earlier, ran out of his temper and made a nasty challenge on Mehraj din Wadoo. He picked up his second yellow of the match and thus Bagan was reduced to ten men for the rest of the match. A sending off which had been waiting to happen as Douglas in the last few matches should have been send off. The one man advantage seemed to have some effect on East Bengal, as the effecting Alvito free-kick went just a few inches above the crossbar. Alvito undertook the role of playmaker and started organising attacks into the Bagan box. He nearly found the net in the 54th minute but his shot from the edge of the box was just diverted out by the Bagan goalie Sangram Mukherjee. The game was confined to the Bagan half and the equaliser seemed to be just a matter of time. Defender Subhashish Roy Chowdhury was introduced in place of medio Lal Kamal Bhowmick to add strength to the Bagan defence, which showed no sign of giving in to the immense pressure built up by the East Bengal frontmen. It was in the 62nd minute that Bagan was finally able to fend off the pressure. A counter attack was organised by the trio of Barreto, Baichung and Dharamjit. Dharamjit, on receiving the ball from Barreto, let a pass to Baichung, who got into the box, but stumbled on his way between defenders Surkumar and Owino. The ball flew over and Subrata Pal, flying over the goal-line, just managed to keep the ball out. Dharamjit had a try on the rebound, but Subrata's legs came in the way. This time Baichung pushed the rebound in. Subrata got hold of the ball, but it was well behind the goal-line, and thus the scoreline read 2-0 in favour of Bagan. This goal rejuvenated the Mariners and seven minutes later, it could have been three in their favour, but James Singh messed up a beautiful move created between him and Dharamjit. East Bengal could have pulled one back in the 74th minute, but Dipankar Roy, who came as a substitute for Snehasis, shot wide over the crossbar, with no Mohun Bagan player in his vicinity. Time was running out for East Bengal and Dipendu Biswas was introduced in place of the ineffective South African Macdonald M Mukansi. Baichung could have had his hattrick in the 77th minute when he got the ball off a Subrata Pal howler, but his shot was somehow deflected off an East Bengal defender. Alvito, Surkumar and Dipankar Roy built up a good move in the 88th minute but it ended in an equally good save by Sangram Mukherjee. East Bengal were creating chances in the dying minutes of the game via Dipendu Biswas and Syed Rahim Nabi, but all the attempts ended up going wide. The final whistle signified three points for Mohun Bagan and provided some more misery for East Bengal.

With just 8 points from 12 matches and having recorded the maximum number of losses in the league so far, East Bengal remain in the drop zone. The team is placed ninth, and trails eighth-placed Viva Kerala by four points. Mohun Bagan remain in fourth spot with 20 points from 12 matches. They next play Air-India in the Cooperage on January 27, while East Bengal host leaders Dempo SC on the same day in Calcutta.