Riding on Jamie Maclaren's record second-minute goal, Mohun Bagan Super Giant extended their dominance in the Kolkata derby with a 1-0 win over traditional rivals East Bengal FC in their Indian Super League match in Guwahati on Saturday. The match was moved to the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium after the Bidhannagar Police, under whose jurisdiction the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata falls, cited concerns over inadequate security because of the ongoing Gangasagar Mela. Jamie Maclaren scored the fastest goal of the Kolkata derby in ISL and it was enough for the reigning champions to see out their arch-rivals, while going eight points clear (35) at the top of the table, compared to the second-placed Bengaluru FC (27).
The Mariners have now won nine times and drawn once in their 10 derby clashes against East Bengal FC in the ISL.
The Mariners started the game strongly as Maclaren handed them the early lead in the second minute.
The East Bengal FC backline was caught off-guard as Asish Rai's long ball found Maclaren in space. After receiving the ball, he lost his marker and slotted it past an onrushing Prabhsukhan Gill without any difficulty.
Around the sixth minute mark, it was East Bengal FC's turn to attack and they did get two great opportunities to equalise through PV Vishnu and Cleiton Silva. But, both the players weren't clinical enough as they saw their attempts get blocked.
In the 21st minute, the Mariners almost doubled their lead when Maclaren found Manvir Singh with a telling cross. However, the latter's shot was straight at Gill with the entire goal found gaping.
East Bengal FC gained a lot of momentum as the first half came to a close with the likes of Jeakson Singh, Vishnu and Cleiton getting on the ball in the
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