Jamshedpur: Winners of the 132nd Durand Cup has made it to the Semi Finals of the 133rd Durand Cup. Mohun Bagan Super Giant defeated Punjab FC 6-5 on sudden-death penalties, to make the semi-finals. This was after both sides ended a thrilling quarter-final clash 3-3 in regulation time.
Thomas Aldred scored the final penalty for the Mariners to beat keeper Ravi Kumar’s effort. The Shers struck through a Luka Majcen penalty early in the first-half only for MBSG to go ahead courtesy two strikes on either side of the half-time whistle by Suhail Bhat and Manvir Singh. Filip Mrzljak and Norberto Vidal then scored in succession to give Punjab the lead again only for Australian Jason Cummings to restore parity in the 79th minute as the game went to tie-breakers given there was no provision for extra-time.
Then even though Cummings missed the first spot-kick, Punjab’s Croatian defender Novoselec was stopped by Mariners keeper Vishal Kaith from converting the fifth kick which would have given them the win, as Greg Stewart promptly brought MBSG back on level terms.
As sudden death kicked in Melroy Assisi converted for the Shers and so did Subhashish Bose and Aldred (with the winning kick) for MBSG, but Vishal’s second save, this time off Denechandram Meetei, turned decisive in the end. Among MBSG’s other scorers in the tie-breaker were Manvir, Liston Colaco and Dimi Petratos while Vinit Rai, Vidal, Bakenga and Mrzljak scored for the Shers.
Northeast United FC and Shillong Lajong FC claimed the first two slots in the Semi Finals. With the previous year’s champions Mohun Bagan claiming the 4th slot, it remains to see who will grab the last team to enter the semis. Owing to public demand, the DCOC had earlier shifted the venue and schedule of the 1st Semi Final. The same will now be played in Shillong on Monday.
