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

 

Mohun Bagan beat Air India 2-1 to reach semi finals of Federation Cup. Lalkamal and Marcos scored the goals for Mohun Bagan. In semi finals, Mohun Bagan will play against East Bengal on December 18th, the match will be played at 6:30 pm.

Mohun Bagan played like champions in 2nd half of the match and beat Air India 2-1 to reach semi finals of Federation Cup. After today’s match goal difference of Mohun Bagan and Vasco was same but Mohun Bagan qualified having scored more goals (4) than Vasco (2). There was a half an hour delay for the match to start as Air India reached the stadium just 15 minutes before start of match due to traffic congestion.

In 2nd minute itself Tulunga gave a pass to Barreto who centered from right side that was a little long and went to Ishfaq in left side from whose pass Mohanraj floated a cross into the box which Baichung headed but it went over cross bar. Thereafter it was Air India who more or less dominated the first half. Mohun Bagan mainly relied on long ball from midfield towards Baichung and Barreto in first half and those were easily cleared by Air India defence. Air India on the other hand with their speed caused problems for Bagan defence. Air India got many throw-ins from which Uttam Singh took long throws which Mariners found difficult to handle. From one such long throw, Sangram completely misjudged the ball and luckily for Mohun Bagan the ball went straight to their defender who cleared the ball for safety. In 26th minute, Air India went ahead. Michael Tayo gave the ball to Surojit Roy at half line and he ran with the ball past Mohanraj and gave it to Soccor Velho inside box who cut the ball in past Vashan and took a right footer than found back of the net, Sangram dived but could not save the goal. In 32nd minute, Samson took a direct free kick which came off post, a lucky save indeed for Mariners. Most of the Air India’s attacks were via Bagan’s left side. To repair damage, Kareem changed the position of Tulunga and Ishfaq and Mariners immediately got two chances. Baichung back headed a ball for Tulunga, who took a swinging right footed volley that went over bar post. In the next minute, from a Habibur cross, Baichung tried a bicycle kick but was timely intercepted by Air India defence.

In 2nd half, Kareem brought in Lalkamal in place of Tulunga and this move changed the complexion of the game and we saw a different Mohun Bagan in 2nd half and they started playing with short passes and played the ball mostly in ground and not long balls. In 51st minute, Lalkamal gave a pass to Baichung inside box who turned nicely and took a shot that Arup Debnath got his fingers to it and the ball hit post. Within 2 minutes, Mariners scored the equalizing goal. Marcos gave a pass to Lalkamal in front of penalty box and the latter took a shot from almost 24 yards out that beat Arup and bounced and went inside goal. Mohun Bagan were combining brilliantly at this moment. Barreto missed a easy chance when from a Lalkamal’s center, Barreto nicely chested down the ball but his left footed shot went away. In 60th minute, Napoleon Singh committed a foul on Barreto on top of the box. Marcos Perreira did bend it like Beckham like last match but this time it did not hit post but found back of the net. Marcos had a poor first half but in second half he came back strongly and controlled the midfield. Air India coach then went to 3-5-2 formation by bringing on Kailash and Subhash Singh. They launched a series of attacks causing danger time and again in the Bagan defence, but seasoned campaigner Dipak Mandal put up a fine show to thwart the raids. Air India got a spot kick when Vashan handled the ball in 74th minute. Ravinder scored but referee disallowed the goal and asked to take the penalty again as few Air India players had moved inside the box before the penalty was even taken. Ravinder took the spot kick again but this time Sangram made a brilliant diving save. Just before end of match, Mohun Bagan missed two chances to score. First time Baichung completely miscued a shot from an advantageous position inside box and second time Baichung took a shot from edge of the box which Arup saved and from return ball Barreto headed the ball that hit the post and went out, a lucky escape for Air India again. Though Barreto and Baichung missed few easy chances, but their dedication and the extra effort shown today is commendable and worth a special mention. Mohun Bagan will play against East Bengal in 2nd semi finals at 6.30 pm on December 18th while in the first semi on that same day, Churchill will meet Dempo at 3.15 pm.

TEAM: Sangram, Mohanraj, Dipak, Vashan, Habibur, Ishfaq (James Singh Jr. 90), Marcos, Masih, Tulunga (Lalkamal 46), Baichung (James Singh Jr. 92), Barreto.

Mohun Bagan lost to Vasco 1-0 in a Group D match of Federation Cup held today in Barasat Krirangan. Mohun Bagan missed many chances to score and Sangram made a bad mistake to concede the only goal of the match. Mohun Bagan now has 3 points from 2 matches and will play against Air India on December 16th in their last match of the group.

Mohun Bagan lost 1-0 to Vasco Sports Club and face a daunting task in their last match against Air India to qualify for Semi Finals of Federation Cup. In their last match against Air India, not only will they have to defeat Air India but also will have to hope that Vasco does not beat Oil India by more goals. Mohun Bagan’s goal average now stands at 2-2 while Vasco’s at 1-1, so if Vasco wins the match by 2 goals, then Mariners will also have to win the match by 2 goals and then they will reach semi finals having scored more goals. All these equations would not have been required had Mohun Bagan did not waste at least 3 sitters to score, on the other hand Sangram made a horrendous mistake and conceded one silly goal. Sangram is responsible for both the goals that Mohun Bagan has conceded in this year’s Fed cup. In the earlier match today, Air India drew 1-1 with Oil India and so if Mohun Bagan had won this match, they would have almost reached semi finals.

Mohun Bagan played attacking football in first half but as time progressed, flare disappeared from their game and especially in 2nd half after Kareem moved to 4-3-3 Vasco got more space in midfield and attacked more. Mohun Bagan started the game in 4-4-2 formation with Baichung and Lalampuia in forward and Barreto not in first team because of injury problem but during the end of the session, Kareem put Ishfaq in forward and moved rightly to 4-3-3 but today unfortunately the three midfielders could not play to their potential in 2nd half, Masih in particular was completely off color today. Kareem brought in Barreto, Kartick and Tulunga in 2nd half. Barreto and Kartick tried a lot but the luck was not in favor of Mariners. In defence, other than Deepak all looked very shaky.

In 1st half, Baichung scored off his left foot, a brilliant shot indeed but he was just offside. Ishfaq in one instance ran nicely down left flank and then he cut inside and took a shot from edge of box but narrowly missed target. In 2nd half, just after Barreto replaced Lalampuia, he gave a delightful through pass to Marcos who had just goalkeeper to beat, but he shot straight into goalkeeper, easiest chance of the match missed. Kartick put a cross from right flank to Barreto who completely miscued the shot and missed another golden chance to score. Just few minutes before final whistle, Kartick gave a pass to Baichung who positioned himself nicely in the box but from the right side he took a wayward shot.

The moment that Habibur would not forget in long time was when due to his silly mistake, a goal of Baichung was disallowed. Mohun Bagan got a direct free kick from outside box. Marcos bended it like Beckham and it hit the post with goalkeeper having no chance to move. From return ball, Baichung and Vasco goalkeeper leaped together but Baichung won the ball and his head beat goalkeeper and was entering goal and Habibur was standing in goalline at that time. Instead of moving away from goalline, he pushed the ball inside goal and was rightly judged offside by linesman. If Habibur had not touched the ball, he would not have been ruled offside and Mohun Bagan would have been 1-0 up.

The goal which Bagan conceded in 80th minute, Angelo lobbed from right side and Sangram completely missed the flight and ball went into far corner. Sangram did not even try to get the ball, he thought the ball was going over post, it was a case of terrible judgment.

Mohun Bagan and Vasco now has 3 points from 2 matches while Air India has 4 points from 2 matches. Oil India has 1 point from 2 matches.

TEAM:  Sangram, Habibur, Dipak, Vashan, Mohanraj, James Singh Sr. (Kartick 58), Rakesh Masih, Marcos Perreira, Ishfaq Ahmed (Lalkamal 76), Baichung Bhutia, Lalampuia (Jose Barreto 58).

YELLOW CARD: James Singh Sr.