Kolkata: Kalyan Chaubey impressed under the bar with some brilliant saves to help Salgaocar hold Mohun Bagan 1-1 in their round 20 I-League match at Yuba Bharati Krirangan here on Saturday.
After a goalless and lacklustre first-half, Edeh Chidi put Mohun Bagan ahead in the 62nd minute but only to see Salgaocar equalise through Keita Mandjou in the 76th minute.
Mohun Bagan’s defence lacked cohesion while their ace Brazilian striker Jose Ramirez Barreto had a forgettable day including a missed penalty that was brilliantly blocked by Chaubey.
New coach of Salgaocar, Karim Bencherifa, who was at the helm of Mohun Bagan before parting ways few matches ago, would return a happy man having held the green-and-maroon outfit and scoring a point against his old team.
Playing under Biswajit Bhattacharjee for the first time, Mohun Bagan dished out a lacklustre first-half.
On paper, they had a strong side with Barreto, Edeh Chidi upfront and their defence boasting of three Indian players in Rakesh Masih, NS Manju and N Mohan Raj, but they were not penetrating enough to see a goalless first-half.
Barreto seemed to be out of his silken touch. The Brazilian had an early chance in the sixth minute when Luciano Sobrosa tackled Marcos at the edge of the box. But the Brazilian could not make use of the chance.
Chidi missed a header in the ninth minute just in front of the goal from a Marcos pass.
Just before the half-time, Chaubey sparkled when he denied Masih who headed the ball from a corner.
But after the changeover, Chidi nudged the ball in from a Marcos corner to make it 1-0 in what seemed to be a soft goal though it added the much-needed spark in the local outfit.
Mohun Bagan kept on attacking but in the process let their defence loose as Salgaocar’s Mandjou capitalised on the advantage to make a brilliant finish for the equaliser.
With the battle intensifying towards the end, Salgoacar almost went ahead in the 78th minute but Francis Fernandes missed a chance by a whisker.
In the 83rd minute, Chaubey brought down Chidi from a throw-in to be awarded a penalty but the custodian blocked the penalty from Barreto to see Salgaocar unscathed.
Chaubey was adjudged Man of the Match.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, April 10, 2010, 21:47