Federation Cup: Mohun Bagan enter final despite draw at Shillong

Starting Line-ups:

Sanjoy Sen’s Mohun Bagan side reached Shillong for the second leg with a 5-0 lead after hammering the Lajong side at Kolkata last Sunday. Although the Mariners lost in midweek in the AFC Cup, all the big stars came back into the team for the second leg with the deadly triumvirate of Jeje, Sony Norde and Cornell Glen starting up front.

The job was done in the first leg at Kolkata and the Mariners calmly went through their paces to see off the home side in the second leg. Shillong needed goals to come back into the match and they made their intent clear from the first minute. Issac Vanmalsawma missed a good chance from a corner in the seventh minute to put the home side ahead as his powerful shot sailed over the bar. Although the home side made the majority of the attacks in the first half, goals remained missing with Brazilian striker Uilliams Souza absent from the starting XI. Fabio Pena was alone up front and was easily negotiated by Luciano Sobrosa and Raju Gaikwad. Set pieces form the Shillong side caused Mohun Bagan problems, but the Kolkata side saw out the efforts to keep the scoreline 0-0 at the end of the half.

After a sedated first forty-five, things livened up a bit after the break with Sony Norde’s pace causing headaches for the home side’s defence. The Haitian attacker produced a brilliant counter-attack in the 60th minute and beat three defenders before passing the ball to Jeje, who wasted the chance after a poor touch. A miscommunication in the Mohun Bagan backline gave Shillong an opportunity to score their first goal in the 71st minute, but Fabio Pena somehow missed the opportunity and hit the near post to the disappointment of the home crowd. The final twenty minutes saw Bagan sitting back and seeing out the game to move into the final of the Federation Cup with a 5-0 aggregate win.