Mohun Bagan win Calcutta league

Mohun Bagan won the Calcutta Super Division football league title after holding defending champions and arch-rivals East Bengal 1-1 in a highly-charged match on Thursday.

Bagan medio Renedy Singh found the mark two minutes into the second half, neutralising East Bengal's early lead through Omolaja Olalekan, to fashion the green and maroon brigade's 25th triumph in the history of the league.

The Salt Lake stadium encounter, coming only four days after the violence-ridden abandoned IFA Shield final between East Bengal and Brazil's Palmeiras, also saw frayed tempers, but matters did not go out of hand, thanks to the stern supervision of referee Supriyo Bhattacharjee.

Four Bagan players and three from East Bengal received yellow cards and the proceedings were also halted for a couple of minutes in the particularly tension-ridden second half of the otherwise absorbing encounter.

Seizing the early initiative, East Bengal went ahead in the 12th minute, when Dipankar Roy sped down the left flank and sent a cross to Olalekan, who placed into the goal.

Stunned out of their stupor, Bagan launched continuous raids, led by star Brazilian striker Jose Barreto, but failed to find the equaliser till the breather.

However, their endeavours paid off, as Renedy latched on to a loose ball and pushed home past the first post, with rival stopper Jackson Egyopyong out of position.

Bagan completed their engagements with 34 points from 13 matches, while East Bengal are on 27 points. They are yet to play an inconsequential last match against Tollygunge Agragami.