Kolkata: On a high after thrashing TRAU FC, city giants Mohun Bagan will look to bag full points against Gokulam Kerala in their I-League fixture at Kalyani Stadium Monday.
The match will be the Mariners penultimate fixture before the high-voltage derby against East Bengal.
Gokulam have an all-win record from their two games so far and look well organised while Bagan redeemed themselves with a 4-0 victory over debutants TRAU FC in their previous game, after failing to register a win in their first two.
They went down 2-4 to Churchill Brothers at home in their second game.
Ugandan frontman Henry Kisekka and Trinidadian striker Marcus Joseph have scored all of Gokulam’s three goals so far and are their standout performers by a mile, while another Trinidadian, Nathaniel Garcia, imposed himself very well in midfield in the second game against Indian Arrows.
Their Spanish coach Fernando Varela, however, refused to read much into Gokulam’s recent form and success against their Monday opponents who they had beaten in their only previous encounter this season, in the Durand Cup.
Sharing his thoughts ahead of the game, he said, “Mohun Bagan are a very competitive side with great players and with quality to make a combined game. We must be concentrating for 90 minutes to beat them and we will concentrate on our improvement as a team and how to play a good game. The league has just begun and we must continue to improve.”
The green and maroon brigade have shown signs of combining better as a team as the league progressed.
They lost a high-scoring entertaining game against Goan side Churchill after having 71 per cent ball possession and then completely overwhelmed TRAU.
They have also unearthed a young and fresh Subha Ghosh, who has come off the bench and scored in two successive games.
Mohun Bagan gaffer Kibu Vicuna brushed aside his side’s previous result against Gokulam.
“It is a different game tomorrow. That match was very even and we didn’t take advantage of the chances we had at the end of the match. We know that we have a hard game to play but we are prepared to face it. Our objective is to see that we are able to play well in order to garner the full three points,” the Spaniard said.
Kick off at 5pm.
PTI