Durand Cup: Gokulam Kerala upsets East Bengal in penalty-shootout win to seal final berth

Catch all highlights from Gokulam Kerala's emphatic turnaround win against East Bengal as it knocked out the 16-time Durand Cup champion on penalties. Here is how the drama unfurled at the Salt Lake Stadium.

Updated : Aug 21, 2019 20:44 IST

Gokulam Kerala upsets East Bengal in penalty-shootout win to seal final berth.
Gokulam Kerala upsets East Bengal in penalty-shootout win to seal final berth.
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Gokulam Kerala upsets East Bengal in penalty-shootout win to seal final berth.

 

LIVE UPDATES:

- You can follow live updates from the second semifinal of the 2019 Durand Cup between Mohun Bagan and Real Kashmir FC in the link provided below.

LIVE | Durand Cup 2019 Semifinal 2: Mohun Bagan vs Real Kashmir FC

- Goodbye from me, Manasi, for this match, which was as dramatic as it gets. Thanks for tuning in and see you soon again! For now, stay tuned in for the second semifinal.

-  That is all from my end for this match. But, the Durand Cup action does not end here. Mohun Bagan vs Real Kashmir is at 7:30 PM IST, which Sportstar will bring you live updates from. Stay tuned to Sportstar!

- East Bengal drew the first blood through Samad Mallick but sloppy performance in the second half saw East Bengal gift a penalty in added time, hereby allowing Gokulam Kerala's Joseph Marcus to score the equaliser from the spot. The Malabarians did well to push the match into penalties, wherein Ubaid pulled off two saves to script an emphatic result for Gokulam Kerala, which sealed its finale berth.

- That is it. Gokulam Kerala marches in to the final of Durand Cup, where it will face the winner of Mohun Bagan and Real Kashmir! WHAT A GAME!

FULL TIME: EAST BENGAL 3-4 (1-1 AET) GOKULAM KERALA

- TONDOMBA'S EFFORT IS SAVED BY UBAID, FORMER EAST BENGAL PLAYER HIMSELF. GOKULAM KERALA HAS KNOCKED OUT 16-TIME DURAND CUP CHAMPION EAST BENGAL!

- Lalromawia sends Mirshad the wrong way! EAST BENGAL 3-4 GOKULAM KERALA

- Number 9 Haokip delivers a powerful kick to find the net for East Bengal. EAST BENGAL 3-3 GOKULAM KERALA

- Defender Justin George scores for Gokulam Kerala! EAST BENGAL 2-3 GOKULAM KERALA

- East Bengal has its first goal from the penalty shootout as Crespi scores. EAST BENGAL 2-2 GOKULAM KERALA

- Gokulam Kerala's Meitei misses! Mirshad dives to his left to save the effort. EAST BENGAL 1-2 GOKULAM KERALA

-  East Bengal's Santos misses! Ubaid pulls off a save. EAST BENGAL 1-2 GOKULAM KERALA

- Gokulam Kerala's Pelissari scores! EAST BENGAL 1-2 GOKULAM KERALA

-  Lalrindika goes for the left-side but hits the wood work! EAST BENGAL 1-1 GOKULAM KERALA

- East Bengal will take the first penalty. However, it is not on the end of its fans!

- END OF EXTRA TIME, GAME HEADS INTO PENALTIES -

124' - MORE DRAMA ! Referee signals for a free-kick but instantly blows the full-time whistle. East Bengal players are furious and question his decision.

123' - Tondomba is taken off on a stretcher and he is seen holding his chest, claiming Joseph hit him in the chest.

122' - SHAMEFUL! Tondonba goes down on the field as he claims Joseph pushed him in an off-the-ball incident. Replay shows Joseph merely touched him, to which the East Bengal player went down in dramatic fashion. Joseph is shown a yellow. Unnecessary!

120' - Pelissari steps up for a free-kick from deep midfield but his delivery is caught safely by Mirshad. We will have two additional minutes as extra time approaches its end.

116' - BLOCK! Following some passes in the middle and the left wing, Joseph charges into the box to find the winner for Gokulam but Mirshad, again, comes off his line and saves East Bengal!

110' - CLOSE! Pelissari puts in a curling ball into the box from the corner, which sees Kisseka, at the far post, lift his foot up to send it into the net, but can only find the set-netting!

107' -  WHAT A BLOCK! Mirshad comes off the line and block's Joseph's shot through his legs after Pelissari found the striker in the box with the perfect pass through the gap between the defenders!

106' - The second half of extra time kicks off.

- End of first half of extra time -  EAST BENGAL 1-1 GOKULAM KERALA

105' - Gokulam seems to be in better control of the game as it continues its attacking threat. It will have to play two more minutes in the first half as additional time has been introduced for the first-half of extra time.

99' - SAVE! Kisseka attacks from the left and sends a pin-point cross for Joseph in the box, who sends the header straight at Mirshad between the sticks!

93' - Joseph charges from the left for Gokulam which sees Marti go for a clearance. However, Mirshad also comes off the line for the clearance, hereby highlighting the miscommunication between the two. This is not going to help East Bengal, which is already missing one player.

91' - Extra time begins.

- EXTRA TIME -

90+6' - What a turnaround! East Bengal concedes at death and Gokulam has pushed the match into extra time. Remember, East Bengal is down to ten men.

90+3' - GOAL! GOKULAM EQUALISES! JOSPEH SCORES FROM THE PENALTY SPOT! Marcus goes for the left-side of the goal and he gets the better of Mirshad as he earns the all-important goal for Gokulam, which keeps it in the game! 

90+2' - PENALTY! EAST BENGAL DOWN TO TEN MEN. MEHTAB IS SENT OFF! Mehtab brings down Irshad in the box and gifts a very good opportunity for Gokulam to equalise.

90'- We will have SIX minutes of additional time. Can Gokulam, which has been quite offensive in the last ten minutes, find an equaliser here?

86' - CLOSE! Pelissari just misses the goal by a whisker after Lalromawia set up him outside the box. His shot from distance, which is aimed for the far post, is just inches away from crossing the goalline! Gokulam is desperate here for an equaliser.

83' - CHANCE! A lofted delivery from deep midfield picks out Joseph in the box, who fails to shoot from a tight angle as his attempt from the right-side of the box goes haywire.

80' -  AWKWARD! Bidyashagar, who left the field a couple of moments ago to receive treatment, suddenly joins the play without the referee's orders, just as Kamalpreet fires a cross from the right! Bidyashagar, very embarrassingly, gets himself booked for this.

76' - Strange substitution from Gokulam Kerala as Bruno Pelissari is brought place to replace Ettienne, who was in fact having a decent game so far. Meanwhile, Shibil is brought off to introduce Mohamed Salah.

72' -  Kisseka picks out Meitei on the left, who finds an onrushing Joseph in the box. Joseph does well to get on to the ball but his first-time dummy does not go as per plan as Mehtab intercepts!

66' -  Dangerous! Ubaid comes off his line to clear the ball on seeing Santos attacking forward. However, the Gokulam goalkeeper fails to clear it the first time out, which allows Santos to trouble him. Ubaid somehow keeps the ball out and Gokulam doesn't concede another. Sloppy!

58' - Irshad enters the referee's book for his challenge on Mahata, who was brought down as he ran down the right flank. The East Bengal players argue with the official as they claim Irshad was the last man in defence and should've been shown a red.

55' - Ouch! Goalscorer Samad is taken off the field on a stretcher after Kisseka barged into him with a challenge. His game has become to a premature end following the collision. Kamalpreet replaces him.

52' - CHANCE! Kisseka misses to score from a lofted delivery from deep midfield as he keeps the shot low, which allows Mirshad time to collect it, after Kisseka broke into the box with no defenders to beat.

49' - Corner for Gokulam Kerala and Joseph takes it. He sends a low ball into the box, which Kisseka tries to get his feet to but Crespi clears it.

46' - Second half kicks off.

HALF TIME: EAST BENGAL 1-0 GOKULAM KERALA - Off goes the first-half whistle and East Bengal walks away at the break with a goal's lead. Its lead was almost taken away had Kisseka headed it in moments before the half-time. East Bengal survives..

45+2' - MISSED! KISSEKA RUINS THE CHANCE! Naocha's cross from the right is poorly headed by Crespi and it looks as if the ball will fly into the net. However, Kisseka rushes to the scene and tries to jump high in an attempt to head it in, only to send it away from the target! WHAT A MISS.

45+1' - Four minutes have been added on.

45' - Promising play from Ettienne, who passes the ball to Marcus outside the box. Ettienne finds space for himself in the box as he gets between the East Bengal defence but his pace is not up to the mark as Marcus' delivery in the box is caught by the East Bengal goalkeeper Mirshad.

41' - Finally a good response from Gokulam's attack as Ettienne and Shibil play a one-two from the right. The final pass sees Shibil whip in a cross from the right, which is blocked by East Bengal's Aidara.

38' - Beautiful playmaking from the East Bengal midfield! Santos plays the ball in the middle and he picks out Pintu outwide with a through ball. Pintu takes a shot from the right, which is straight at the onrushing Ubaid!

36' - Corner for Gokulam Kerala sees Joseph take up the set-piece. He picks out Kisseka in the box; Kisseka sends a towering header but it sails over the bar!

34' - Side-netting! After Rashid picks up a yellow for fouling Bidyashagar, East Bengal gets a free-kick. The set piece is taken deep and the ball is played in the box for Pintu, who manages to control the aerial delivery but can't quite keep it inside the net. It bumps into the side-netting!

30' - Pintu toys with the defender and frees up Aidara away from the box. Aidara takes a turn, which totally puts off Joseph. However, he fails to send a good through ball for Bidyashagar in the box.

26' - East Bengal is, currently, looking stronger of the two sides on the field. The goal has added to the team's confidence, which has so far been putting its attacking prowess on display.

 

19' - GOAL! SAMAD MALLICK SCORES A SCREAMER! EAST BENGAL 1-0 GOKULAM KERALA. Samad triggers the action as he combines with Bidyashagar on the right wing - the latter runs down the wing before releasing a cross which is somehow just kept away from the goal by Ubaid. However, the goalkeeper failed to clear it out from the playing field and defender Irshad miscues the clearance. Samad pounces on it the loose ball and unleashes a bullet strike from 40 yards out which dips into the net! The East Bengal crowd bursts into cheers! 1-0 to the Kolkata giant.

15' - SAVE! Corner for East Bengal and Santos steps up for it. He takes a short corner as Pintu moves up in the box, playing a one-two with Santos. Santos, from a tight angle on the left, takes a shot, which forces Ubaid to pull off a diving save. He punches it away and Gokulam players are relieved.

12' - Super skills from Santos! The Spaniard puts his skills on display as he manages to keep the ball in as he marker tries to intercept. Santos keeps the ball but tries to outmuscle his marker, hereby committing a foul.

8' - Once again some clean, promising playmaking from East Bengal as the team tries to build action from the right flank. Samad receives the ball and just as he tries to enter the Gokulam box, he is brought down by defender Naocha.

5' - Some clean passing from the East Bengal midfield sees in-form striker Bidyashagar rush forward for a through ball. The crowd gets excited as Bidyashagar sprints, but Gokulam custodian Ubaid comes off his line to save the danger!

3' - A lofted ball from East Bengal's midfield is played for Pintu up top. Gokulam's central defender fails to clear it and Pintu pounces on the loose ball. He sends a cross from the right, which flies off the face of goal. It looked like the attacker intended playing a cross rather than a shot.

2' - Gokulam's Ettiene, from deep in defence, sends a through ball for Shibil on the right flank. The winger whips in a cross but it lands in no man's land.

1' - KICKOFF! The first semifinal is underway.

- The players are now walking to the pitch- East Bengal is in bright red, Gokulam Kerala is donning the golden shade.

- We are less than 15 minutes away from kick-off. Alejandro Menendez's East Bengal and Fernando Varela's Gokulam Kerala are fighting for a berth in the final, where one of them will face the winner of the clash between Mohun Bagan and Real Kashmir.

 

 

- East Bengal comes into the semifinal on account of being the table topper of Group A. The Red and Gold brigade won all of its matches, having registered ten goals. On the other hand, Gokulam Kerala enters the last-four after finish atop Group D, owing a similar record as East Bengal, only scoring one more than the Kolkata giant.

 

PREVIEW

Local favourite East Bengal will take on the impressive Gokulam Kerala FC   in the first semifinal of the 129th Durand Cup, here at the Salt Lake Stadium today.

The first semifinal will be pitting two sides with in-form foreigners. East Bengal has the likes of Spain’s Jaime Colado and Borja Gomez in attack and defence respectively, while Frenchman Kassim Aidara will anchor the midfield.

For Gokulam Kerala FC, striker Marcus Joseph of Trinidad and Tobago is enjoying a great time having already scored two hat-tricks in three matches. His compatriot Andre Ettienne and Brazilian Bruno Pelissari will complete the team’s spine with their strong presence in defence and midfield.

Both the sides have invested on grooming Indian youngsters, some of whom are already looking to hit the scene in a big way. Similar is the case with Mohun Bagan and Real Kashmir, who are also looking to strike the right balance between their foreign and Indian recruits, and will play in the second semifinal at 7:30 PM IST.

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