IN Goa hosted Kolkata Derby, ATK defeats SC East Bengal

IN the first-ever Kolkata Derby  of the Hero  ISL  between city based ATK Mohun Bagan defeated their  arch rivals SC East Bengal by two goals to nil at  Tilak Maidan in Vasco on Friday, November 27. Mohun Bagan has  merged with defending ISL champion ATK to join the league as ATK Mohun Bagan. With the help of its new investor Shree Cements, East Bengal became the 11th ISL team and  played as SC East Bengal in the Super League. Roy Krishna and Manvir Singh have   gone down in history books with the goals against the SC East Bengal in the much-awaited Kolkata Derby in ISL 2020-21 .It  was SC East Bengal’s debut match  in the ISL. As Joydeep  Basu recalls in News Click ‘’Mohun Bagan and East Bengal have engaged in a fabled rivalry for the past 95 years, ever since they met for the first time in the 1925 Calcutta Football League (CFL). Since then, every top tournament in the country has lured them to play as it guaranteed gate sales and enhanced the prestige of the meet. But never before had their reputation, or performance, been compromised so blatantly for the benefit of a tournament. ’The Derby played in the empty  stadium  due  to pandemic protocols, provided  much needed  boost to the league’s TV ratings. The two traditional  rivals had  no option but to play this  season without having  played a single competitive match prior to the ISL. News Click  quoted  former India  football  skipper Bhaskar Ganguly regretting lack   of  “sporting interest” in rushing the fixture so early in the league.  “This only shows people who run Indian football have absolutely no idea of the background of the game in India,” says Ganguly, who played 14 seasons for East Bengal and two seasons for Mohun Bagan. “Both teams should have been given a few weeks to settle down before playing the most important match from their point of view. It may be recalled  that The Indian Super League is a professional football league which represents the sport’s highest level in India. The league comprises 11 teams. The rescheduled  seventh season of the Indian Super League (ISL), one of the top professional football league in India, commenced on November 20.ATK were the defending champions, having defeated Chennaiyin in the 2020 ISL final. However, in July 2020, the club was merged with I-League club Mohun Bagan to form ATK Mohun Bagan. Goa are the defending winners of League Winners Shield.edted by @chakravartypk