Mohun Bagan captain Jose Ramirez Barreto (left) in a tussle with Mohammedan Sporting defender Debjit Ghosh at the Salt Lake Stadium on Monday. A Telegraph picture

Calcutta: A dull, insipid goalless draw between Mohun Bagan and Mohammedan Sporting marked the beginning of the 112th IFA Shield at the Salt Lake Stadium on Monday.

One really had to dig deep to find some moments worth noting, which a tournament-opener usually throws up. There were a few: Mohun Bagan custodian Sangram Mukherjee’s save of Noel Wilson’s spot kick and Mohammedan Sporting’s Jamir Ali Mondal’s red-card, following a double booking.

But these are all negative sides of a contest, which was mainly reduced to a muddle in the middle and when some chances were created, they were flatly squandered — like that of Noel, Dipendu Biswas, Eduardo Coelho, Bijen Singh and who not. Perhaps, the mindset of the players was so heavily concentrated on dishing out a draw that they must have left their scoring boots back home.

Much was expected from Jose Ramirez Barreto, who played in the city as a Mohun Bagan player after more than two years.

But Mohammedan Sporting coach Subhas Bhowmick had a zonal marking system for him and the Brazilian was not allowed to penetrate too much. His teammates were not simply smart enough to utilise the space, left vacuum in ‘targeting’ Barreto.

Soon after the kick-off, Mohammedan Sporting took the rival backline by surprise when Bijen met Noel’s free-kick inside the box unchallenged, but the former made a mess of the chance, shooting it over the bar.

In the 12th minute, the action reverted to the Mohammedan Sporting box and Surajit Roy, having received the ball in a fast three-man move, did a Bijen act from almost the similar position.

This early spectacle soon turned out to be spells of mirage in the vast desert of listless display in the middle. There were too many unnecessary back-passes, too many altercation in the middle, drowning the promise of an lively contest.

Within seconds after the break, Mohammedan Sporting were handed a lifeline when Manas Das needlessly pushed down Jamir Ali from behind as he attempted to meet another Noel free-kick.

However, Sangram rose to the occasion, denying Noel a moment of glory, kicking out the ball with his stretched right leg even though he was duped to fall on the wrong side.

Mohun Bagan behemoth rumbled on for a brief period after that, forcing Mohammedan Sporting defence to effect back-to-back goalline saves. This was followed by Jamir Ali’s 75th-minute expulsion, when he earned his second booking due to a lunging challenge to Manas.

In a bid to take the numerical advantage, Mohun Bagan’s physio-cum-interim coach Robson sent Barreto up to make it a three-pronged attacking line.

The move remained unproductive, barring a 88th-minute opportunity when Mohammedan Sporting custodian Gopal Das fumbled in catching a cross from the right, but Eduardo Coelho didn’t find the target on the rebound.

TEAMS