Inam Ansari
Kolkata: Dimitri Petratos scored the lone goal of the match as Mohun Bagan Super Giant defeated cross-town rivals East Bengal to be crowned champions of the 132nd Durand Cup football tournament here on Sunday. On a Super Sunday for India's oldest football competition, Mohun Bagan, despite being reduced to 10 men, avenged their defeat from the group stage against Emami East Bengal (EEB), winning the Kolkata derby 1-0 in the final. Petratos struck the winner in the 71st minute after Anirudh Thapa was sent off for a second bookable offence, early in the second half. There was nothing much to choose between the two sides save the Petratos strike, in an entertaining final at the hallowed Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (VYBK), here in the city, which had close to 50,000 fans watching. A tactical game Both managers sprung surprises with the first eleven. Carles Cuadrat of EEB gave Md. Rakip was given a start for the first time in the tournament, while Juan Ferrando of MBSG kept Manvir, who has had a good campaign, on the bench, while starting with both his foreign forwards, Dimitri Petratos and Armando Sadiku. Ashique won the game’s first corner for MBSG within the first five minutes, however not much came off it. A similar fate awaited EEB when they got theirs a few minutes later. There was nothing to choose between the two in the first quarter of an hour. Left was the preferred attacking flank for both teams, with Ashique of MBSG and Mahesh of EEB being the prime movers of such attacks. Then just after the water break, Jordan Elsey seemed to have twisted his ankle and Cuadrat had to replace him with Jose Antonio Pardo at the back. With just a couple of minutes to go, the half’s two best chances fell to both teams. First when a ...
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