Kolkata: Mohun Bagan Super Giant will attempt to defend their title Saturday after they defeated Bengaluru FC 4-3 on penalties in the second semi-final of the 133rd IndianOil Durand Cup at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (VYBK). The two sides were locked 2-2 after regulation time with the Mariners coming back from two goals down to force a penalty shootout to decide the winner. Sunil Chhetri converted from the spot to give the Blues an early lead and young Vinith Venkatesh doubled the lead early in the second half. The home side came back with a Dimitri Petratos penalty of their own and an Anuruddh Thapa stunner in the end stages. Vishal Kaith then turned hero for the Maroon and Green brigade yet again, effecting two saves in the tie-breaker.
Mohun Bagan Super Giant will now take on NorthEast United FC in the 133rd Durand Cup finals at the same venue on Saturday and aim for a record 18 titles while the Highlanders will look to land their first major title.
In the thrilling semi-final the Mariners’ Jose Molina Jimenez affected as many as six changes to the quarter-final starting line-up which got the better of Punjab FC, Bengaluru’s Gerard Zaragoza gave talisman Sunil Chhetri a start, while also bringing in Vinith Venkatesh in midfield. Siva Sakthi and Shivaldo Singh started on the bench for the Blues. Both teams looked to have fielded their best eleven for the big game.
While Bagan dominated the attacks in the half, the goal came quite against the run of play. Vinith Venkatesh, who in general put in a good shift on the day, justifying his coach’s decision to start him. And smartly found his way through Liston back helping in defence and was then adjudged to have been brought down by him inside the box. Chhetri converted with ease.
The game went into a penalty shoot-out and Bagan converted the first four as Halicharan Narzary’s fourth was saved by Kaith’s trailing leg. Stewart’s kick was brilliantly and crucially saved by Gurpreet, but Kaith managed to stop Jovanovic’s effort to send the home fans into delirium.
