Mohun Bagan Super Giant’s Australian defender Tom Aldred recorded his first Indian Super League (ISL) goal in the Green and Maroon colour as the Mariners eased past Jamshedpur FC with a 3-0 scoreline to climb to the top of the league table.

The Kolkata giants stretched their unbeaten run to five games as they got the better of the Men of Steel with a dominant home performance. Aldred, Liston Colaco, and Jamie Maclaren were on target as Mohun Bagan SG have now won each of their last three games against Jamshedpur FC in the league, their joint longest active winning streak against any opponent.

Aldred opened the scoring for the hosts in the 15th minute, utilising his presence inside the box and delivering a powerful finish from Alberto Rodriguez’s assist. With that, the Australian became the fourth defender to score for the Mariners after Subhasish Bose, Dippendu Biswas, and Rodriguez, which is the highest such tally for any side this term.

The 34-year-old center-back shared his delight at his maiden Mohun Bagan SG goal, saying,“It’s great to get my first goal for the club. It’s obvious that we, defenders, want to contribute to goals. It’s good to get started with the first goal; I thought it was a decent strike. I’m happy with it.”

Mohun Bagan SG recorded their fourth clean sheet of the ongoing ISL season, their second-highest such tally after the first eight games of any of the previous seasons. Shedding light in this context, Aldred remarked,

“Off course, I think this is our fourth clean sheet of the season. Our job is to keep clean sheets, and the more we get is better. We know we’ve got qualities in our team to win games.”

Despite succumbing to a 0-3 defeat against Bengaluru FC at the Kanteerava Stadium in September, the Mariners emerged victorious in four of their next five fixtures, including two Kolkata derby victories over Mohammedan Sporting Club and East Bengal FC. With strong back-to-back performances, Jose Molina’s men find themselves back on track and are now at the top of the table with 17 points from eight matches.

While quizzed about their turnaround since the defeat against Bengaluru FC, Aldred acknowledged, “The defeat (against Bengaluru FC) was a big learning curve for us, and we’ve gotten stronger. We learn and improve every day and try to get better.”

Aldred highlighted their strong on-and off-the-field bonding as the reason behind the team’s dominant performances on the pitch. The defender urged his teammates to carry on the positive momentum and maintain their position at the top of the league table.

“We’re getting used to playing with each other and building those relationships that we need to do. We’re solid, and we just got to keep improving every day, which we need to do,” Aldred said.

“We work hard on the training pitch. We’re keeping cleansheets, which is good. We just have to work hard, keep cleansheets and win matches,” he concluded.

The goal is a big boost for me: Liston Colaco

Mohun Bagan SG’s dynamic winger Liston Colaco registered his first goal of the season against Jamshedpur FC in their 3-0 win in Kolkata. Colaco took on the opponent's defenders and outplayed them with his adroit stepovers and fascinating skills to score the second goal of the match at the stroke of halftime.

The fleet-footed Indian international was absolutely at his best as he logged a successful duel rate of 85.7% against the Men of Steel (12/14 duels won), the highest by any Indian player in a single game in the ongoing ISL season.

Speaking on his goal, Colaco remarked,

“No (it’s not my best goal). I rate my goal against Mumbai City FC (in the League Shield decider last year) as the most important goal because it helped us win a trophy.”

“This goal is also very important for me because this is my first goal of the season. Every goal is important,” he further added, sharing the significance of his first goal in the ISL 2024-25 season.

Colaco believed that this goal would boost his confidence and help him register more goal contributions in the upcoming matches.

“Yes. It’s a big boost for me. We have just to keep doing well and keep training,” Colaco commented.

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Mohun Bagan Super GiantJamshedpur FC2024-2025 Liston Colaco