First ever title in a decade since inception of actor John Abraham’s team
Kolkata, Sep 1: Goalkeeper Gurmeet Singh pulled off a couple of exceptional saves in the penalty shootout as NorthEast United FC overcame a two-goal deficit to stun Mohun Bagan 4-3 to win their maiden
Durand Cup title after the regulation time ended with the score locked at 2-2, here on Saturday.
The 24-year-old judged brilliantly and showed superb footwork to deny Liston Colaco in the third
strike, and then in the fifth attempt, he stood like a wall to deny Mohun Bagan captain
Subhasish Bose and seal the match in his team’s favour.
Guillermo Fernandez, captain Miguel Zabaco Tome, Parthib Gogoi and Alaaeddine Ajaraei
struck the other goals in the shootout for NEUFC.
Jason Cummings, Manvir Singh and Dimitri Petratos were on the target for the Mariners who
had to settle for their 13th runners-up finish in the Asian’s oldest tournament that completed its
133rd edition.
For actor John Abraham’s team, this was its first ever silverware in a decade after its inception,
and it couldn’t have been sweeter, coming in front of a full, passionate Mohun Bagan fans at the
iconic Salt Lake Stadium.
Mohun Bagan goalkeeper Vishal Kaith, who made similar saves in their quarterfinal and
semifinal wins earlier, stood despondent at one corner as the NEUFC players ran on to the pitch
to celebrate the historic moment.
It was a tale of two halves as the Jose Molina-coached side, that was eyeing a record-extending
18th title, dominated the start and went 2-0 up with goals from Jason Cummings (11th-penalty),
Sahal Abdul Samad (45+5th).
Chasing history, the Highlanders caught Mohun Bagan’s defence sleeping right after the restart
and turned up the heat with two quickfire goals in three minutes.
Alaaeddine Ajaraei (55’) and second-half substitute Guillermo Fernandez (58’) delivered clinical
finishes to seize the momentum.
The lone bright spot for NEUFC in the first-half, Indian forward Jithin MS was at the heart of it
again, expertly controlling a flick-on from Guillermo.
He drew in two defenders before slipping it to Ajaraei, who shaped to curl it to the far post but
instead fired it into the near post, leaving Kaith with no chance.
Their Madrid-born coach Juan Pedro Benali’s tactical substitution by bringing in Guillermo in
place of Thoi Singh paid dividends as NEUFC brought it level in no time.
The super sub made a huge impact when he latched onto an Ajaraie cross at the far post and
thundered a volley into the top of the net, making it all square with more than half an hour on the
clock.
In the 68th minute, NEUFC nearly snatched the lead when Jithin unleashed a powerful volley
from outside the box but Kaith’s intervention was just as impressive as a third successive
tie-breaker finish loomed for the Mariners.
The first half was firmly in Mohun Bagan’s control.
They took the lead after a defensive blunder by NEUFC’s Asheer Akhtar, who tugged Sahal
Abdul Samad’s jersey from behind in the box.
Samad went down, and referee Harish Kundu had no hesitation in awarding the penalty as
Cummings sent Gurmeet the wrong way to earn the lead.
Greg Stewart, who started ahead of Petratos, nearly doubled the lead in the 19th minute when
he went past Dinesh Singh and Mohammed Ali Bemammer as he came one on one with
Gurmeet but only to balloon the ball over the bar.
There was a close call for the Highlanders in the 22nd minute when Jithin met a cross from the
right and powered a header towards goal, but Vishal Kaith made a comfortable save.
Colaco’s superb set up from the left flank when carried the ball along and kept drifting to his
right and then crossed for Sahal stood out when Mohun Bagan went 2-0 up before the break.
Sahal was at the right place at the right time and his first touch to the first post was enough to
put them in the driver’s seat.
But Benali’s tactical brilliance stood out in the second-half as Mohun Bagan found to be
complacent and could not defend their title.
Gurmeet was awarded the Golden Glove for his stellar display infront of the goal all tournament
while Kerala Blasters’ Noah Sadaoui took home the Golden Boot. (PTI)
