Mohun Bagan played out a 1-1 draw against Club Valencia of Maldives in their 2017 AFC Cup play-off match in Male on Tuesday.
Bagan took an early lead through Darryl Duffy's fifth-minute strike, which was cancelled out in the 72nd minute by Godfrey West Omodu. He converted from the spot after Subhasish Bose was adjudged to have handled the ball.
With quite a few of their first-team players rested, Mohun Bagan had Shilton Paul in goal while Balwant Singh and Duffy were deployed upfront. Katsumi Yusa and Bikramjit Singh marshalled the midfield, while youngster Raynier Fernandes was given a run on the left wing.
Bagan shocked the home team when Duffy placed the ball into the net early on. It was Prabir Das, who made a darting run down the right which caught the Valencia defenders and Duffy was there on the end of it to make it 1-0.
Prabir was instrumental in most of Bagan's forward forays on the day. A 15th-minute cross to Balwant did not culminate in a goal as the home side defended well on this occasion. Ten minutes into the second half, Balwant had another chance to score after Raynier had sent in a beautiful cross from the left, but the striker's header went straight to the home side goalkeeper.
Mohun Bagan dominated possession, but they squandered their lead when Subhasish Bose handled the ball in the box. Omodu found the elusive goal from the spot and as the match progressed he came close to scoring yet again.
Bagan had their share of chances but couldn't capitalize on their early lead as the game finished the 1-1 at Male. The second leg of this play-off match will now take place at the Rabindra Sarobar stadium in Kolkata on February 28.