KOLKATA, Nov 4: Okolie Odafa helped Mohun Bagan reinvent the proficiency, which for some time has been disassociated with the team’s identity following regular failures, outplaying Sporting Clube de Goa 3-1 in a fourth round I-League clash at the Salt Lake Stadium, here, on Sunday (November 4).

Odafa virtually led the restoration act single-handedly against the Goa visitor scoring the tournament’s third hat-trick. A last-minute goal from Joseph Pereira saw Sporting Clube redeem some pride from the match, which had city giant dominating for the greater part of the action.

Needing a win to steady their boat – which is the key image in their emblem – Mohun Bagan made good use of the opportunity as a fired-up Odafa went for the goal hunt right after the start. Missing the services of their Australian forward Tolgay Ozbey, Mohun Bagan employed their Nigerian goal-machine as the lone attacker while widening their midfield. 

Despite their dominance in the match, Mohun Bagan’s performance did not show much creativity but the team did well in sticking to the single-point agenda of feeding Odafa with regular passes. Set in a 4-5-1 format by Mariners’ stand-in coach Mridul Banerjee, the team restricted the porosity in their defence while opening up more possibilities in their offensive.

The first goal came from a set-piece situation where Odafa showed a touch of class curling a free-kick past the hapless Sporting Clube custodian for a spectacular goal. The 16th minute goal inspired the Nigerian to go for a bigger margin but that happened a little late in the 42nd minute from another dead-ball situation – a corner this time.  

Odafa, whose sense of position can be matched by very few forwards in the country, set himself at the right spot to receive a deflected clearance on a Snehasish Chakraborty corner and slot the ball home with neat precision. 

Mohun Bagan appeared to lose focus after the break allowing their opponent the leeway to plan their own attacks. But before Sporting Clube could launch a well-orchestrated offensive Odafa found the third goal for Mohun Bagan and completed his hattrick in the 56th minute. 

Putting his physical advantage to good use, Odafa shielded his markers on Sporting Clube goal-mouth, collect a through-pass from Syed Rahim and went ahead to find the net with a grounder. 

The Nigerian goal poacher had two more chances to enhance his and the team’s tally but missed the target narrowly. His 63rd minute flick went inches wide of the target while his next attempt – an angular shot – hit the side netting. 

As Mohun Bagan appeared to rest on 3-0 lead towards the end of the action, Sporting Clube utilised the opportunity to reduce the margin. Joseph Pereira availed a rebound after his colleague Dawson Fernandes found the first attempt coming off the Mohun Bagan upright.

 Mohun Bagan’s Nigerian defender Celestine Anyichie had cleared the incoming shot of Pereira but referee Raktim Saha signalled it a goal after his assistant on the line, Magho Singh, pointed out that the ball has crossed the line before the defender had put it away. 

Gaining their second successive win Mohun Bagan now have six points from four rounds while Sporting Clube de Goa remained on four points.