Cleiton Silva sparked the celebrations with a fantastic finish to help East Bengal prevail over the holder Odisha FC 3-2 in extra-time and claim its maiden Super Cup crown.
The final at Kalinga Stadium here on Sunday saw an exciting contest as the two teams were locked 2-2 at the end of regulation time. The intensity of the contest also saw two red cards, bringing the teams down to 10 men each.
Finally, it was left to the East Bengal captain Silva to find the decider which he did in the 111th minute to bring an end to a 12-year wait for a national club title.
AS IT HAPPENED: East Bengal vs Odisha FC, Kalinga Super Cup Final Highlights
Odisha FC found the goal at the right moment to shift the game in its favour in the first half. East Bengal made a strong start but missed chances while it was the finishing ability of Odisha forward Diego Mauricio that helped the host lead 1-0 at half-time with his 39th-minute goal.
East Bengal had its first chance in the fourth minute but Nandhakumar Sekar failed to put the right power in his grounder allowing Lalthuammawia Ralte to save the situation. Odisha made a couple of counters but Roy Krishna and Mauricio could keep their attempts on target.
East Bengal came back with back-to-back attempts but Ralte made two spectacular saves to deny the visitors’ defender Jose Antonio Pardo Lucas and Saul Crespo’s successive attempts around the half-hour mark.
The East Bengal citadel fell in the 38th minute when Mauricio made the most of a defensive error by the opposition midfielder Borja Herrera to find the elusive lead for the host.
East Bengal coach Carles Cuadrat made two big changes after the break introducing the two national team players – Naorem Mahesh Singh and Lalchungnunga.
The ploy seemed to work well as Mahesh set up a defence-splitting pass to release Nandhakumar Sekar in the 52nd minute. The East Bengal winger ran deep and dribbled past the Odisha goalkeeper to slot the ball home.
East Bengal found the lead quickly off a 60th-minute penalty, which happened as Odisha’s Senegalese defender Mourtada Fall brought down the Borja inside their own box. Crespo found the net from the spot to make it 2-1 in the 61st minute.
The host fell to 10 men when Fall was ejected for a foul on Borja again. East Bengal seemed to be cruising toward a win but a penalty in the last minute of second-half injury-time brought Odisha back in the match.
Ahmed Jahouh scored from a panenka kick to make it 2-2.
There was more to happen as East Bengal was reduced to 10 men losing its midfielder Souvik Chakrabarti who received his second booking of the match in the first half of extra-time.
There were more attempts from both sides but Cleiton clinched the issue with an opportunistic goal.
The Brazilian forward was in the right place to take advantage of a hasty throw from Ralte, snatching the ball from an off-positioned Narender Gahlot and striking it into the bottom-right corner with a left-footed flick.
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