The Hindu : Sport / Football : Bagan edges out Chirag

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Bagan edges out Chirag

Principal Correspondent

Bagan forward Chidi was red carded in the 10th minute
Chirag’s Jayanta Sen missed in the tiebreaker

KOLKATA: Mohun Bagan survived 110 minutes with 10 men before overturning a full-strength Chirag United SC 5-4 in tiebreaker in the second semifinal of the 114th IFA Shield here at the Salt Lake Stadium on Wednesday.

The win helped Bagan make its 37th final entry in search of its 22nd title in one of the oldest tournaments of the world. I-League champion Churchill Brothers meets runner-up Bagan in the final on Saturday.

Bagan kept defending after losing its forward Chidi Edeh, who was red carded in the 10th minute. The 120 minute of action, including 30 minutes of extra-time, remained barren before Bagan found the escape route through the penalty shoot-out.

Brilliant move

Bagan coach Karim Bencherifa’s move to bring in the experienced goalkeeper Sangram Mukherjee, who substituted young Shilton Paul in the last minute of extra time, paid off. Sangram stopped the first penalty taken by Jayanta Sen. That one save was enough for Bagan, which found the mark in all its five attempts.

Marcose Pereira, Rakesh Masih, Snehasish Chakraborty, Surkumar Singh and Jamesh Singh successfully converted for Bagan. P.C. Lalawmpuia, Eduardo Coleho, Lalkamal Bhowmik and Subhasish Roy Chowdhury scored for Chirag.

The match lost much of its competitiveness as Bagan went into a defensive shell losing its striking spearhead Chidi. Giving vent to needless rage the Nigerian striker head-butted opposition defender Eduardo Chacon, who had rushed at the former in a mode of protest following a midfield tackle.

Chidi was immediately given the marching orders while Eduardo escaped with a booking — giving Chirag the numerical advantage early in the match.

Shilton put up a great show under the bar for Bagan as Chirag threatened the opposition goal a few times.

Chirag’s attackers — Brazilian Joshimar Da Silva, Parminder Singh, Parveen Kumar and later substitute Lalwampuia came close to scoring on more than one occasion but the goal remained elusive with either Paul or their own waywardness spoiling the chances.

Bagan also got some chances on the break but the likes of Marcose and K. Kulothungan missed from close range.

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