Defending champion Mohun Bagan Super Giant (MBSG) downed a valiant Punjab FC (PFC) 6-5 in sudden death to enter the semifinals of the Durand Cup 2024, here at the Tata Steel Sports Complex stadium on Friday.
After the quarterfinal contest ended 3-3 in regulation time, Scottish defender Thomas Aldred scored the winning penalty for the Mariners to beat Ravi Kumar and secure victory in the rollercoaster of a battle.
MBSG head coach Jose Molena made four changes to his starting 11 from the previous game while Panagiotis Dilmperis, Punjab’s new Greek head coach made a couple from its previous match, against Mumbai City.
AS IT HAPPENED: Mohun Bagan vs Punjab FC Highlights, Durand Cup 2024 quarterfinal
While the Mariners dominated in attack from the beginning, Punjab got the early lead.
A one-two between Luka Majcen and Vinit Rai in the 16th minute saw the latter in the clear inside the Mariners’ penalty area when Alberto Rodriguez brought him down. Majcen made no mistake, sending goalkeeper Vishal Kaith to the other side and scoring from the spot.
The equaliser came at the stroke of half-time when Liston Colaco cut inside along the left and laid it on for Greg Stewart. Stewart’s first-time strike took a deflection off Suhail Bhat outside the six-yard box and wrong-footed Ravi to trickle into the net.
Molina made two changes in the second half, bringing on Jason Cummings and Manvir Singh for Dippendu Biswas and Suhail. PFC, on the other hand, replaced Ashis Pradhan with Ezequiel Vidal.
Manvir made an immediate impact when Sahal Abdul Samad set him up with a through ball on the right, having received a pass from Abhishek Suryavanshi. The lanky winger drew Ravi out of the Punjab goal and struck a right-footer past him into the left-bottom corner, within three minutes of restart.
The goal forced Dilmperis to play his cards quickly and he brought on new Norwegian signing Mushaga Bakenga ahead of the hour mark for skipper Majcen.
PFC got the equaliser minutes later when Vinit’s cross from the right was allowed to roll by hard-working Croatian midfielder Filip Mrzljak, foxing Aldred among others on the way. He then unleashed a thunderous left-footer from just outside the top of the box to rattle the Mariner’s net.
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The Shers then got back in front again when Vidal finished Mrzljak’s build-up in style with a clinical left-footer.
But there was more drama pending.
In the 79th minute, Colaco’s cross was headed down by Manvir, which Cummings chested and struck home with a left-footed volley, with the match moving into penalties without the provision of extra-time.
Though Cummings missed the first penalty for Mohun Bagan, Ivan Novoselec hitting the woodwork in the fifth spot-kick for Punjab forced the contest into sudden death, with Aldred eventually sealing the win.
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