By IANS
Kolkata : A goal in each half by captain Baichung Bhutia helped a 10-man Mohun Bagan beat the traditional rivals East Bengal in a 12th round encounter of the I-league football here Monday.
Bagan was reduced in number almost immediately after the start of the second session losing its Brazilian midfielder Douglas Da Silva, who received his second booking, in the 48th minute.
But the team warded off the apparent disadvantage and doubled its lead to ensure full three points in the end. The win consolidated Bagan’s stay in the fourth position with 20 points from 12 encounters.
The loss compounded problems for East Bengal as it remains in the relegation zone (on just eight points) losing its eighth match in 12 rounds.
Poor form continued to dog the three-time National Football League champions and the injection of a new coach in Manoranjan Bhattacharjee could not help the team’s fortune.
Injury to its Brazilian striker Edmilson Marques, seem to be hitting East Bengal hard as was evident in the match against Bagan.
Bhutia and Jose Ramairez Barreto combined to get the opening goal in the 29th minute.
In the 62nd minute Bhutia capitalised on the relative weakness of the red-gold defence to take the game away from their rivals.
With this they also completed five consecutive wins against East Bengal at the Salt Lake Stadium.