Close to one lakh spectators had converged at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan (YBK), unsure if the season’s first derby would have anything memorable to offer. Barring curiosity over the new turf and Bhaichung Bhutia’s switchover, there wasn’t much to look forward to.

Instead, the crowds returned home rubbing their eyes in disbelief after an evening of gripping action, unimaginable blunders, a flurry of goals like never before and an unprecedented scoreline.

Exorcising the ghosts of the 1975 IFA Shield drubbing, Mohun Bagan came back from behind in a high-octane encounter to edge past arch-rivals East Bengal 5-3 in their fourth-round I-League match at the YBK.

As Mohun Bagan pumped in five goals, and that too after East Bengal opened the scoring, the hero of the match was their Nigerian striker Edeh Chidi, who became the first player in the history of Mohun Bagan-East Bengal encounters to strike four times in a game.

Bhutia eventually couldn’t play because of the hamstring injury. Bagan mainstay Jose Barreto played, and he did his bit too. But it was the unstoppable Nigerian who left East Bengal stunned and set the stands alight with his four-goal blitz.

The match, which will be remembered for decades down the line for its unprecedented scoreline, interestingly is far from boasting of a storyline where two teams try outclassing each other in a high-scoring affair. Instead, the match was as much forgettable for some as it was memorable for many.

It was an evening of extremes as goals came by at the drop of a hat for both the camps, and the goalkeepers at the two ends literally competed with one another in the sloppiest show in recent memory in Kolkata football.

... contd.