IFA Shield: East Bengal overcome Mohun Bagan to reach finals

The second semifinal of the 117th IFA Shield was won by East Bengal Club 4-2 on penalties against archrivals Mohun Bagan at the newly floodlit Saltlake Stadium in Kolkata yesterday after the match had ended one-all in regulation time. East Bengal will now face Prayag United in the final on Wednesday.

The red-and-gold had more of the ball in the first session, but both sides had very few real chances. That changed after the break as Mohun Bagan striker C.S. Sabeeth gave the Mariners a 47th minute lead following a pass from Odafe with the East Bengal players appealing for offside which was not granted by referee M.B. Santosh Kumar.

Mohun Bagan now looked in control with especially Quinton Jacobs controlling the midfield, but the closer the match got towards the end, the more defensive became Mohun Bagan as East Bengal put a lot of pressure on them. The red-and-gold got a deserving equaliser in the 87th minute through substitute striker Andrew Barisic.

The match went into extra-time, but no more goals were scored with the match going into a penalty shootout. There Chidi Edeh, Andrew Barisic, Sanju Pradhan and Baljit Singh Sahni scored for East Bengal, while only Jewel Raja Sheikh and Aibor Khongjee scored for Mohun Bagan with the match ending 4-2 for the red-and-gold.

Mohun Bagan captain Odafe Onyeka Okolie penalty was saved by Gurpreet Singh Sandhu while his team mate Nirmal Chettri's penalty hit the goalpost, while Naoba Singh missed for East Bengal.

In the end it was celebration time for East Bengal as now Prayag United SC await them in the final.


MATCH STATS

East Bengal Club 1-1,4-2 Mohun Bagan AC [on penalties] - Goals: 0-1 C.S. Sabeeth (47'), 1-1 Andrew Barisic (87')

East Bengal Club
Gurpreet Singh Sandhu - Harmanjot Singh Khabra, Uga Okpara, Gurwinder Singh, Saumik Dey - Sanju Pradhan, Mehtab Hossein, Penn Ikechukwu Orji (69' Andrew Barisic), Lalrindika Ralte (83' Thokchom Naoba Singh) - Chidi Edeh, Robin Singh (57' Baljit Singh Sahni)

Mohun Bagan AC
Shilton Pal - Nirmal Chettri, Anyichie Echezona Celestine, Mehrajuddin Wadoo, Aibor Khongjee - Jewel Raja Sheikh, Quinton Norman Jacobs (90' Tolgay Ozbey), Denson Devadas (119' Biswajit Saha), Manish Bhargav - Odafe Onyeka Okolie, C.S. Sabeeth

Referee
M.B. Santosh Kumar (Kerala)

Man of the Match
Sanju Pradhan (East Bengal Club)