Mohun Bagan put up a dismal show and had to be content with a goalless draw against a fighting Tollygunge Agragami in a National Football League match in Kolkata on Wednesday.
Plagued by the absence of skipper Renedy Singh and two others, the former title holders failed to cut a mark as Tollygunge adopted a defensive strategy before a sizeable crowd at the Salt Lake stadium.
Bagan, who earlier lost to Mahindra United, have four points from three outings while Tollygunge have three from as many matches.
The green and maroon brigade did show signs of some urgency in the initial stages as a Hardeep Gill long ranger inched out in the opening minute before another hit the post to the relief of Tollygunge custodian Chinmoy Banerjee.
The spirit of the Bagan upfront died down in the second half as key Brazilian striker Jose Barreto was policed to submission by the Tollygunge rearguards while the two new recruits - Eduardo and Leonardo - failed to impress in their maiden appearance before the Kolkata crowd.
In the 27th minute, Eduardo failed to connect the ball well from top of the rival box while Leonardo shot wide from from close, wasting a nice Barreto cross in the 51st minute.
Tollygunge, despite playing a defensive game for the better part, also had their share of chances. Akeem Abolanle was distinctly unlucky in the 20th minute when his powerful header off an Amitabha Chanda cross from the left sailed past Bagan goalkeeper Prosanto Dora but hit the cross-piece.
In the 66th minute, a power-packed long ranger of Akeem narrowly missed the target. Three minutes later, he built up and missed perhaps the easiest chance of the day.
Playing a one-two-one with Gauranga Dutta, Akeem opened the Bagan defence and rushed into the rival box to reach for the final pass, having only the Bagan goalie to beat. But his shot from handshaking distance got deflected off an advancing Dora and was cleared for a corner.
Earlier, following changes effected by coach Aloke Mukherjee, the Bagan upfront scaled their attack and bagged a number of corners, but failed to open the goalmouth.
Talented youngster Ashim Biswas fired a blistering 20 yarder in the 34th minute and toiled hard to penetrate the rival defence but to no avail.
Tollygunge coach Krishnendu Roy expressed satisfaction with the performance of his wards and the way his strategy to snub the Bagan upfront paid off.