The winners of the Shield and the Indian Super League Mohun Bagan Super Giant (MBSG) cut the Kerala Blasters 2-1 to enter the Super Cup semi-finals in Bhubaneswar on Saturday. MBSG, aligning an entirely Indian team, except for the Portuguese defender Nuno Reis, marked once in each half by Sahal Abdul Samad (22nd minute) and Suhail Ahmad Bhat (51st). Sreekuttan MS (90 4) pulled one for the blasters, but it was too little, too late for the side of the Kerala. Later in the day, FC Goa produced a sensational late return to defeat the Punjab FC 2-1 and reserve a semi-final date with MBSG on Wednesday.
The Punjab FC, which had taken the lead at the start of the second half via Ezequiel Vidal (57th), seemed ready for a famous victory. However, two fast goals in the space of three minutes of Borja Herrera and Mohammed Yasir in the dying minutes turned the game on his head, leaving the heart broken.
Earlier, the match between Mohun Bagan and Kerala Blasters began at a quiet pace, the two teams not engaging a lot of bodies in half of the opposition. After 20 minutes without goal action, Mohun Bagan SG produced the opener with their first significant attack.
With a game of lightning legs, Salahudheen Adnan was twisted and exceeded the left back Naocha Singh and slipped a cross into the six yards box. Going to the end of this was Samad, who quickly escaped the challenge of Ruivah Hormipam and rejected the ball on the Sachin Suresh goalkeeper to do 1-0 in the 22nd minute.
From that moment, the Kerala blasters desperately desperately desperately. Noah Sadaoui cut from the right and took a distance shooting, but he did not get enough altitude, and the ball landed directly in the gloves of the goalkeeper of MBSG Dheeraj Singh.
Blasters have become more and more dangerous in corners. In the 30th minute, after playing a two with Vibin Mohanan, Sadaoui pierced a low cross which was eliminated by Dippendu Biswas.
Later, from another corner, the cross of Hormipam almost landed in the upper corner, but Dheeraj did well to make it switch.
In the additional time of the first half, Mohammed Aimen was nourished on the left wing by Vibin. The midfielder cut off from the left before seeing his right football deviate from the bar.
Before the Kerala blasters could even get started for the second half, Mohun Bagan SG struck another goal.
Asnic Kuruniyan created the second goal on the left flank. The Indian international jumped the past Hormipam and square a perfect ball in the six yards box so that Bhat guides it in the net with ease.
The rest of the second half was all about Dheeraj Singh, keeping the Kerala blasters forward, but it was only after Jesus Jimenez missed a few golden edges-half-vollying above the bar in the 65th minute, then largely curlled with the distant post after being cleaned in the 67th.
Three minutes later, Dheeraj palmé for the replacement for the right foot of Kwame Peprah from a narrow angle.
With only five minutes to go, Peprah tried to install Jimenez with a low cross in the six -meter box, but the Spaniard could not sort his feet quickly and completely missed it.
Dheeraj was again great to deny Peprah from six meters before Ebindas’ attempt on the rebound was released from the line by Amandeep.
Mohun Bagan’s goalkeeper was finally beaten in the 94th minute when Jimenez slipped a neat ball for Sreekuttan on the right. The replacement beat him on Dheeraj and at the back of the net, but it turned out that it was only a consolation strike.
(With the exception of the title, this story has not been published by NDTV staff and is published from a unionized flow.)
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