Durand cup: East Bengal set up title clash with Mohun Bagan

Kolkata, August 31

Albanian Armando Sadiku shrugged off his poor form to inspire Mohun Bagan to a come-from-behind 2-1 win over FC Goa in the Durand Cup semifinals here today.

The win paved the way for a fairy-tale Durand Cup finale on Sunday as it set up Mohun Bagan’s derby showdown against arch-rivals East Bengal in a repeat of 2004 final.

A compact and defence-heavy FC Goa drew first blood with their Moroccan midfielder Noah Sadaoui’s 23rd-minute strike.

Mohun Bagan took the penalty route to restore parity with Jason Cumming scoring from the spot in the 42nd minute in what appeared to be a contentious call by the referee.

Four minutes after replacing Hugo Boumous, Armenian substitute Sadiku scored the most-important goal of his career at the Mariners. He capitalised on a Sandesh Jhingan howler to strike home the eventual winner in the 61st minute.

Ferrando bolstered his defence in the final minutes, bringing in Brendan Hamill and Liston Colaco to stave off the wave of attacks from Goa.

Goalkeeper Vishal Kaith also should be credited for saving a sure-shot goal when he thwarted a Jay Gupta header in injury time.

Mohun Bagan last entered the Durand Cup final in 2019 when they lost to Gokulam Kerala. In 2004 also, Mohun Bagan had lost to East Bengal. Both Mohun Bagan and East Bengal have won the Durand Cup 16 times each. — PTI

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