AFC Cup 2023-24: Mohun Bagan bow out after 1-0 loss to Maziya SRC 

Mohun Bagan Super Giant ended their campaign in the AFC Cup 2023-24 Group D with a 1-0 loss against Maziya SRC at the Maldives National Football Stadium in Male on Monday.

Hassan Raif Ahmed scored the only goal of the match in the 40th minute against a young and inexperienced Mohun Bagan side. Goalkeeper Arsh Shaikh pulled off several saves for the visiting team but the Indian football club lacked the sting in the attacking third.

The result meant that Mohun Bagan SG concluded Group D in third place with seven points. Mohun Bagan won't qualify for the inter-zone play-off semi-finals as only the top team from Group D makes the cut for the next round.

Odisha FC will take on table-toppers Bashundhara Kings of Bangladesh in a must-win encounter later in the day. Even a draw in that match would see Bashundhara Kings progress to the next round. 

Mohun Bagan, opting for a younger side for the dead rubber in Male, found themselves defending in their half in the first 20 minutes. Maziya SRC dominated the midfield along with ball possession but their attempts were repeatedly blocked by young Mohun Bagan goalkeeper Arsh Shaikh.

While very few attacking moves came from the Indian Super League champions in the first half, Maziya finally got the breakthrough in the 40th minute. Hassan Raif Ahmed’s left-footed shot from outside the box found the top-left corner to make it 1-0 for the home side.

Mohun Bagan came out for the second half with more attacking intent and had better ball possession. However, the team could not find the finishing touches in the final third.

On the other hand, Maziya squandered some straightforward chances at the start of the second period. Though they found the groove after an hour mark, the scores remained unchanged.

The AFC Cup is the second-tier Asian continental club football competition after the AFC Champions League. Each team in Group D played the other three teams in a home-and-away round-robin format.

Mohun Bagan started their continental campaign with wins over Odisha FC and Maziya but could manage just a draw against Bashundhara Kings in the home game and suffered a 2-1 away defeat. A 5-2 loss to Odisha in the fifth game put curtains on their chances of progressing to the next round of the AFC Cup 2023-24.