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Mohun Bagan Super Giant became the first team to win the Indian Super League Cup at home and also completed the league and cup double with a comeback 2-1 win over Bengaluru FC.
ISL 2024-25: Mohun Bagan SG beat Bengaluru FC To Clinch Title. (X)
Mohun Bagan Super Giant completed the season double with a 2-1 win over Bengaluru FC to win the 2024-25 Indian Super League (ISL) cup at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan on Saturday.
Jason Cummings and Jamie Maclaren scored after an Alberto Rodriguez own goal as the Mariners became the first team to win the ISL final at home.
The game got off to a frantic start as the Mariners went on the front foot right from kick-off. Bengaluru FC looked for the press but were mostly second to the second balls.
It was Mohun Bagan who got near gaol after Asish Rai received the ball in the half space behind the Bengaluru defence but lost the ball as he made his way into the penalty box. Jamie Maclaren took over the ball made his way over to the byline to cross it back into the danger area. The Bal was headed towards Jamie Maclaren but Chinglensana made a crucial intervention.
Anirudh Thapa had a shot blocked in the 14th minute as the crowd claimed Rahul Bheke illegally used his hands to stop the shot at goal.
Subhash Bose brought down Ryan Willoms but Sunil Chhetri’s ball from the resulting cross was not enough in the 16th.
In the 18th minute, Manvir made a darting run down the right and tried to find Maclaren with a searching early cross but Gurpree Singh Sandhu was alert to thwart any danger.
Barely a minute later, Subhasish was again put under pressure by Williams as Mohun Bagan conceded a corner. Alberto Noguera stepped up and found Chhetri’s head but his effort was stopped at goalmouth by Subhasish. Edgar Mendez’s effort was straight at Vishal Kaith as Mohun Bagan averted danger.
Bengaluru sensed blood. Mohun Bagan were backpedalling.
In the 26th minute, Tom Aldred lost his balance as the pass back to him was stolen by Edgar, who tried to find a blue Hirt in the middle but the ‘Green and Maroon’ brigade survived another scare.
Chhetri escaped from a certain yellow card after he climbed on the back of Liston Colaco right in front of the referee just before the half-hour mark.
The water break brought with it welcome relief.
In the 37th minute Williams, after receiving a pass from Noguera on the right, started to take a step towards his strong foot but shuffled it onto his left, evading Subhasish and looked to curl it into the top left corner. Kaith though timed his jump and made a finger-tip save.
As the half progressed, Bengaluru dominated Mohun Bagan in mid-field as Suresh Singh Wangjam, Predo Capo and Noguera bossed the Indian duo of Thapa and Apuia. The hard-hitting talks in the opening exchanges had an effect.
After the restart, either could have scored.
In the 47th minute, Noguera found Williams but the former’s shot was somehow clawed out from the bottom left corner by Kaith. At the other end, Jason Cummings found Manvir as the Indian forward’s header was inched wide of the upright.
The deadlock was broken in the 49th minute as Williams’ cross into the box was awkwardly sent into the back of the net by Alberto. Kaith was rooted to his spot, stunned as the handful of blue jerseys celebrated in the crowd.
Changes were order off the bench as Ashique Kuruniyan and Sahal Abdul Samad replaced Liston and Thapa after Lalremtluanga Fanai came in for an injured Namgyal.
The substitutes almost had an immediate effect as Ashique tormented Suresh, playing as makeshift right-back, on the left and Sahal had his attempts blocked in the 65th and 66th minutes.
Sensing another opening, Gerard Zaragoza also opted to bring on fresher legs with Edgar making way for Jorge Pereyra Diaz.
With the clock nearing 70, the referee blew his whistle and pointed to the penalty spot. Cummings’ cross meant for Maclaren was stopped by Chinglensana using his hands. The crowd erupted.
The decibel levels went up a few notches higher as Cummings stepped up to slot the ball past Gurpreet’s outstretched hand and into the right corner.
At the second water break, the score read 1-1.
The tide had turned in favour of the Mariners but Cummings and Sahal missed chances to take the lead. Jose Molina decided to bring on Greg Stewart for Cummings around the 80th-minute mark.
With the full-time whistle nearing, the game opened up as Mohun Bagan and Bengaluru upped their attempts of finding the winner.
Pereyra Diaz was the first player to go into the referee’s book in the 85th minute as Capo followed his teammate in the 89th and Apuia too was shown a yellow card soon after.
At the stroke of 90 minutes, Ashique weaved past a couple of Bengaluru defenders but had his shot saved, while Maclaren could not control a brilliant pass from Stewart in behind the defence. The referee called for extra time with the score level despite four minutes of added time.
Either manager made changes with Deepak Tangri replacing Subhasish as Suresh was replaced by Mohammed Salah.
Alberto almost scored another own goal in the 94th minute as he ended up deflating another Williams cross goalward only to be saved by Kaith by finger tips to keep his side in the game.
Come the 96th minute, Mohun Bagan took the lead for the first time in the match as Stewart’s cross was stopped dead by Chinglensana as Maclaren gently robbed the Bengaluru FC defender of possession and slotted the ball past Gurpreet. The firecrackers went off again as nearly 60,000-strong crowd at the Salt Lake Stadium erupted in jubilation.
Bengaluru were not the ones to given in. Chhetri and Pereyra Diaz came close with headers but their efforts did not pass Kaith but the Mariners held on.
Bengaluru got a free-kick soon after the restart as Chhetri stepped up to take the free-kick from dangerous position but ended up curling thesis effort over the crossbar.
In the 111th minute, Bengaluru got another free-kick in a promising position, as Noguera’s cross was not up to the mark and cleared easily. Bengaluru were desperate as Sivasakthi Narayanan replaced Ryan Williams before Fanai skies from close range after sliding in to meet a loose cross. Vinith Venkatesh too replaced Noarem Roshan Singh.
But it did not work with the crowd finding their voice with every passing second, rising into a crescendo at the final whistle. The fireworks bleed from the stands into the sky.
Their Mariners managed something that no other teams managed before in 11 years – win the final at home and also complete the double. History again for Mohun Bagan.
- Location :
Kolkata [Calcutta], India, India
