Since the two giants of Indian football got incorporated into ISL in 2020, the Kolkata derby has been overwhelmingly dominated by one side of the city. Mohun Bagan SuperGiant won the first six derbies in the league with an aggregate of 14-2. Such was their supremacy that the fixture was feared to be a one-sided affair for long as East Bengal FC could barely assemble a proper team in that period.
However, with the management taking steps to improve the squad last summer and appointing an ISL-winning manager Carles Cuadrat, the Red and Gold have been competitive enough this season to tackle the ruthlessness of the Mariners and also win some of the battles. The Kolkata derby seemed to have found its charm again in the 2023/24 season.
The present campaign has seen four derbies played so far with the one left to go in the league stage. It will be another exciting encounter between the sides with three crucial points in demand for Mohun Bagan to go top of the table while for East Bengal it will be to reinsert themselves into the playoff race. The other derbies in the campaign have brought various storylines with the Red and Gold slightly edging the Mariners but a new episode is expected to be added in this legacy fixture on Saturday, 10 March 2024.
Here we look at the Kolkata derbies of the 2023/24 season between East Bengal and Mohun Bagan played so far:
Mohun Bagan 0-1 East Bengal - ISL (12 August 2023)
After being on the losing side in eight successive Kolkata derby, East Bengal found their groove at this stage by beating Mohun Bagan in the group stage of the Durand Cup last year. It was the first meeting of the campaign between the sides and was an ideal fixture to test the team’s strength early. Carles Cuadrat’s first taste of the darby ended on a winning note when new signing Nadha Kumar curled in the only goal of the game on the hour-mark from a counter. Mohun Bagan made a late flurry to come back into the game but the evening belonged to their arch-rivals who celebrated a victory in the Kolkata derby after a long time.
East Bengal 0-1 Mohun Bagan - ISL (3 September 2023)
As if it was written in the stars, the two faced each other once more in the Durand Cup 2023 and this time in the showpiece final itself after 15 years. Here, Mohun Bagan Super Giant took sweet revenge in not only clinching the title by beating their rivals but also overtaking the Red and Gold to crown themselves record champions in the competition's history. This tie’s deadlock was once again broken in the second half but not without drama. In a cagey contest, midfielder Anirudh Thapa’s second yellow prompted East Bengal to go all out for the win with a man advantage but it became their downfall. The Mariners made attacking changes rather than going defensive and got the reward for it as their talisman Dimitri Petratos, who was quiet in the entire contest, scored the most crucial goal of the tournament to send the Bagan fans into a frenzy.
Mohun Bagan 1-3 East Bengal - Kalinga Super Cup (19 January 2024)
The Kolkata giants were drawn into the same group once again, this time in the Super Cup that was hosted in Orissa in early 2024. The two clubs were on the different sides of the pole at that time. Despite a strong start to the season, Mohun Bagan faltered towards the end of Juan Ferrando’s time at the club which led to his sacking while East Bengal were seeing a new dawn under Carles Cuadrat. It was a group-deciding clash with both coming into the fixture after winning the first two matches of the tournament. However, the Green and Maroons needed a win to progress while a draw was enough for the opposition. Cuadrat’s men did more than that, coming from behind to win the encounter 3-1 with Cleiton Silva scoring a double. Dimitri Petratos’ penalty miss on the stroke of half-time after his initial spot-kick was dismissed for infringement with two costly errors in the second half led to the winning goals eliminating Mohun Bagan from the competition. East Bengal went on to lift the Super Cup putting an end to their 12-year trophy drought.
Mohun Bagan 2-2 East Bengal - ISL (3 February 2024)
The first Kolkata derby in the 2023/24 ISL season did not arrive until February of this year after it was postponed from 2023. The league meeting threw up a great spectacle involving four goals, controversial referee decisions and a late drama. East Bengal took an early lead through an unlikely source, Ajay Chettri who ghosted behind Brendan Hamill to convert his header. Mohun Bagan got hit but they were not rocked as Armando Sadiku’s brilliant finish equalized the score in the 17 minutes changing the momentum of the game. However, East Bengal managed to retake the lead from Cleiton Silva’s spot-kick in the 55th minute. Just when the Torch-Bearers were dreaming of their first win in this meeting, Petratos dampened their mood again by scoring a thumping 87th-minute equaliser to maintain the unbeaten Kolkata derby league run for the Mariners. Both the second-half goals, awarding the penalty and Sahal’s supposed foul on Nadha Kumar in the build-up to the leveler, though became a centre-point of discussion in the match for the unsatisfying referee’s decisions.
East Bengal vs Mohun Bagan Head-to-Head (Last 5 meetings all competition)
East Bengal won - 2
Drawn - 1
Mohun Bagan won - 2
East Bengal vs Mohun Bagan Head-to-Head (ISL)
Played - 7
Drawn - 1
