On a day when the entire Mohun Bagan backline seemed to have an off day, the hosts lost 2-1 to Mumbai FC in their sixth round I-League match at the Vidyasagar Krirangan, Barasat, on Monday.

The loss gave the Mumbai club their first victory in the tournament. Forced to play without regular goalkeeper Sangram Mukherjee — who slipped and injured his right foot on the morning of the match — and centre back Rakesh Masih — out with a suspension — Bagan were unable to contain the Mumbai attack and left huge gaps in the defence. Substitute ‘keeper Shilton Paul appeared clueless and was unable to effect a single clearance.

Sangram Mandi, a product of the Tata Football Academy, was equally ineffective in Masih’s role. He failed to intercept a free header from Abhishek Yadav in the opening minute itself that, with Paul stranded in no man’s land, found its way into the net. A misunderstanding and collision inside the box between the two in the 41st minute resulted in Mumbai FC’s Nigerian striker Bashiree Abbas having a shot at an open goal and he made no mistake. Bagan went into attack mode in the second half with Ishfaq Ahmed replaced by Branco Cardozo upfront, and it paid results when a Branco shot in the 60th minute was partially saved by Mumbai FC custodian AC Nithinalal, only for Snehashis Chakraborty to slot home the rebound.

Bagan coach Karim Bencherifa later defended Paul. “He (Paul) just had a bad game, made some mistakes. But that doesn’t mean he can’t bounce back from here,” Bencherifa said. With this, Mumbai FC now have six points while Bagan remain on nine.

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