Manvir's late strike saves scrappy Bagan in 1-0 win over Chennaiyin FC in ISL clash

Manvir Singh finally could do what was expected of him.

For a good part of the game at the Salt Lake Stadium on Monday, Manvir and his teammates looked ragged and scrappy against Chennaiyin FC. However, luck did favour Mohun Bagan Super Giant towards the end as Manvir found the target four minutes from regulation time to ensure a 1-0 win.

With this win, also their second from three matches so far, Bagan are now fifth in the standings with five points. Chennaiyin are placed 11th.

Right through, Bagan struggled with conversion despite head coach Panagiotis Dilmperis urging his players to try and convert at least a percentage of the chances they created. Bagan were fortunate that Chennaiyin couldn’t capitalise on the opportunities they got.

In the first half alone, the visitors came close to scoring thrice, but were let down by poor finishing and also Bagan goalkeeper Vishal Kaith’s safe pair of hands. If that wasn’t enough, a left-footed long-ranger in the 80th minute from former Mohammedan Sporting midfielder Nikola Stojanovic beat Kaith only to come off the horizontal.

Six minutes after the reprieve, Bagan could finally smile. Substitute Liston Colaco, coming off the bench in the 82nd minute (in place of Dejan Drazic), beat his marker and floated one in for Manvir. This time, though, Manvir made sure his header went in, much to the delight of his teammates and the fans.

Securing full points from this game and a back-to-back victory should help Bagan feel a little more relieved. But Dilmperis certainly needs to pass on the message to his players that such performances will not go unpunished by stronger opponents.

In fact, the Bagan coach minced no words to acknowledge that his team’s overall performance on Monday was below par. “I’m responsible for the starting XI. But to be honest, this was a bad performance,” Dilmperis said after the match.

“Our best player on the field today (Monday) was Vishal Kaith. Overall, I’m disappointed with the way we played, as we made too many unforced errors. I apologise to the fans for such a performance.

“I must say we’re lucky to win,” the coach added.

Bagan’s next opponents are second-placed Punjab FC at home on Saturday. Such unforced errors against a side that has won two and drawn one may prove to be costly for the green-and-maroon brigade. Dilmperis has to make it very clear to his players.