ISL: Mohun Bagan Super Giant set the date for league winners face-off against Mumbai City FC with a dominant 4-0 win against Bengaluru FC

Nikhil Poojary of Bengaluru FC during the Indian Super League (ISL) 2023-24 football match between Bengaluru FC and Mohun Bagan Super Giants at Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru. Pic/PTI

Mohun Bagan Super Giant (MBSG) defeated Bengaluru FC by 4-0 at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium tonight to take the battle of becoming the Indian Super League (ISL) 2023-24 League Winners to the final day of the league stages on April 15.

With 45 points from 21 games, the Mariners are trailing the top-placed Mumbai City FC (47) by two points. The Islanders and the Mariners clash on April 15 at the Salt Lake Stadium, with the former hoping to retain their crown in this exciting last mile finish of the tenth season of the ISL.

The equation was pretty simple for the Mohun Bagan Super Giant right from the onset of this encounter. Naturally, they approached the game with similar vision, unleashing their incredible attacking personnel on the field and giving them a free hand to work their magic around the Bengaluru FC unit. With four different scorers in Hector Yuste, Manvir Singh, Anirudh Thapa, and Armando Sadiku, the Mariners broke no sweat in capping off one of their most convincing victories of the campaign so far.

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It began with Hector hammering home a rebound in the 17th minute. Having earned a corner, Dimitrios Petratos spotted Hector in a slightly vacant spot near the right post and the latter attempted a shot that deflected back to him after hitting the crossbar. The midfielder held his nerves, making space and netting it in to get a foot ahead in the game. Defender Anwar Ali nearly undid that 22 minutes later, bringing down Bengaluru FC forward Sunil Chhetri inside the box. Chhetri stepped up to take the spot-kick, but shot at the crossbar instead, making the Blues go into the break trailing by a goal.

The Mariners sealed the game in the opening 15 minutes of the second half though, with attacker Manvir Singh playing a major role in that. Manvir played a pass to Joni Kauko, who waited for his teammate to sprint past him to make a back-heeled pass towards the Indian winger. Manvir received the delivery, unlocked the backline of the Blues and simply slid the ball into the back of the net in the 51st minute. A fast break three minutes later tripled the lead of the Mariners, with Thapa getting his name on the scoresheet this time around.

Petratos collected the ball near the halfway mark before producing a solo effort and laying the ball for Kauko in the middle. Kauko tried his luck from distance, but the rebound landed on Petratos' feet, who squared up the pass for Thapa to round off the move. Manvir continued teasing the Bengaluru FC defence from one end, as he raced down the left flank and beat his markers for sheer pace before laying up a straightforward assist that Sadiku scored from in the 59th minute of the match. On a day where the Mariners couldn't afford any slip-ups, they ensured that they made none, and kept their hopes of ending the campaign at the top spot of the table afloat.

Manvir scored and assisted once each, in addition to making a clearance and an interception as well to deliver an all-round performance. He also made three crosses and completed 14 out of his 23 passes as he ensured he covered every blade of the grass in a tenacious output on Thursday.

Bengaluru FC's run in ISL 2023-24 comes to an end with this match, whereas the Mohun Bagan Super Giant will face Mumbai City FC on April 15.

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