Bagan qualifies for the 30th Federation Cup final. This is the record 17th time Mohun Bagan has qualified for the finals. 12 times champions will meet Dempo SC in the final. Bagan won against City rivals, and Premier League ranking 3rd Kingfisher East Bengal in Penalty Shootouts. In the 61st minute Sanju Pradhan scored for KEB. Barreto scored the equaliser in 65th minute. In tie breakers Bagan won 5-3.

Mohun Bagan defeated East Bengal 5-3 in tie breakers in 2nd semi final. The scoreline was 1-1 after 120 minutes. Mohun Bagan is unbeaten in the last 9 matches played in Salt Lake. The scores of the last nine matches are 2-1, 4-3, 2-0, 1-0, 2-0, 2-1, 1-1, 1-1, 5-3 (1-1). Bagan’s unbeaten run over East Bengal for 691 days, marching towards 1000, a record which all the Mariners will be proud of. The match was a keenly contested one and the best match of this year’s Federation Cup which was full of drama. Mohun Bagan started with Ishfaq in left half and James Singh on the other flank. East Bengal played well in this half and kept Sangram busy throughout. Vashan had to be replaced by Lalkamal in 10th minute due to injury and Rakesh Masih went to stopper with Marcos falling back as defensive medio. This put some pressure in Bagan defence. East Bengal had appealed for penalty in 5th minute when Yakubu’s shot hit Vashan’s hand but it was completely unintentional and referee rightly gave the decision in favor of Mohun Bagan. Mariners were thrice unlucky in this half when Marcos’ curling free kick and Ishfaq’s head hit post from James corner. In 20th minute, Subrata Pal had fumbled with the ball but Ishfaq failed to push the ball inside goal. East Bengal also came close to scoring few times but Sangram was up to the mark and made two brilliant saves in the first half, once when he came out of charge and saved a Sunil shot and the second time he dived to his right and made a spectacular save. In 40th minute, Soumik missed from close range when he lobbed the ball over cross bar whereas in the very next minute, Ishfaq took a left footer from outside box which grazed the post and went out for a goal kick.

In 2nd half, Mohun Bagan came back strongly in the match with midfield marshalled by Marcos. However, East Bengal scored the first goal in 61st minute, when from a Alvito’s free kick, Masih headed the ball out but it went straight to Sanju who took a right footed shot that beat Sangram and went into goal. Mohun Bagan equalized within 4 minutes. Marcos took a free kick from center of the field that curled and went to Barreto who followed the ball nicely and headed the ball home, Subrata had absolutely no chance to save the ball. In the 70th minute, Ishfaq Ahmed was tackled from behind by Mehraj, a clear case of penalty but seems that the referee did not see the incident. From the very next attack, from James center, Baichung failed to make a connection with the ball missing a very easy chance. In 73rd minute, it was third time unlucky for Bagan when Ishfaq’s shot ricocheted off crossbar for the third time in this match after Baichung’s effort was saved by Subrata Pal. Minutes before final whistle, Marcos took a free kick from outside box which narrowly missed target. The match went to extra time with scoreline reading 1-1.

In 1st minute of extra time, Barreto headed James Singh cross over the crossbar. East Bengal got one golden chance when Sunil’s shot came off post. Baichung got injured and Kareem brought Lalampuia in his place. In 2nd half, Lalampuia’s cross from the left saw Tulunga, who came in for Ishfaq Ahmed minutes earlier, headed it back for Barreto whose shot was well blocked by Saumik Dey. Seeing Sangram out of goalline, Yakubu lobbed the ball which just went over crossbar. Just a minute before final whistle, James center from left saw Lalampuia miss an easy header which sailed over crossbar.

In tie breaker, for Mohun Bagan, Barreto, Marcos, Lalkamal, Lalampuia and James Singh scored while for East Bengal Praveen KUmar, Mehtab, and Jayanta scored while Sunil Chetry’s shot, which was East Bengal’s third shot, was saved by Sangram Mukherjee.

For Mohun Bagan, Sangram, Dipak, Marcos and Barreto had an outstanding game.

The final between Mohun Bagan and Dempo will be played on Sunday, December 21st.

TEAM: Sangram, Mohanraj, Dipak, Vashan (Lalkamal 10), Habibur, Ishfaq (Tulunga 109), Masih, Marcos, James Singh Sr., Baichung (Lalampuia 98), Barreto.

YELLOW CARDS: Barreto (Mohun Bagan). Musah, Jayanta, Nirmal, Sunil (East Bengal)

TIE BREAKER:

Barreto 1-0, right bottom corner, goalkeeper dived same direction but brilliantly executed shot

Parveen Kumar 1-1, left bottom corner, goalkeeper dived same direction but fails to save

Marcos 2-1, left corner, goalkeeper dived same direction but fails to save

Mehtab 2-2, left corner, goalkeeper dived opposite direction

Lalkamal 3-2, right corner, goalkeeper dived opposite side, best shot of the tie breaker

Sunil saved by Sangram diving to his left

Lalampuia 4-2 left, goalkeeper dives same direction but fails to get a touch

Jayanta 4-3, left, comfortable height for goalkeeper to save who touches the ball but ball goes in

James Singh 5-3, same as last shot, goalkeeper touches but ball goes in to put Bagan in finals