By Abhishek Roy, IANS
Ludhiana : Defending champions Mohun Bagan will face archrivals East Bengal in the first semi-final of the 29th Federation Cup football tournament Tuesday after the Kolkata giants won their respective quarterfinals here Sunday.
East Bengal edged past JCT 3-2 while earlier in the day Mohun Bagan trounced Viva Kerala 3-1. For the first time since 1998, the city rivals will face each other in this tournament.
Mahendra will play the second semi-final against the winner of Monday’s quarterfinal tie between Dempo and Churchill Brothers.
A brace from Brazilian Edmilson Marques and a Surkumar Singh strike helped East Bengal get past JCT, who were backed by some 5,000 fans at their home ground.
Both teams played roughly and referee Benjamin Silva had to flash out the yellow card on nine occasions.
For JCT, Brazilian Eduardo Escobar found the net from a penalty spot and Renedy Singh chipped in with a late strike to reduce the margin.
East Bengal, who last lifted the title in 1996, were under pressure from JCT in the first 25 minutes but somehow were lucky enough to open the scoring in the 15th minute after a scorching drive from Surkumar.
Nabi gave a back-pass to Surkumar, who was on the top edge of the box, and the latter’s powerful right footer went screaming past goalkeeper Karanjit Singh. Even after taking the lead, East Bengal defenders were under heavy pressure and had some anxious moments in the 21st minutes when Nigerian Julius Irabor Akpele’s firm header hit the bar.
But slowly after the half-an-hour mark the JCT attack lost its intensity and East Bengal stepped up its campaign. In the 37th minute Mehrajuddin Wadoo’s powerful grounder was saved by Karanjit.
Seven minutes later East Bengal doubled the lead when Marques guided the ball in the net from the goal line. Alvito D’Cunha’s free kick from the right was tapped in by Syed Rahim Nabi and Marques stabbed in.
JCT came close to find their first goal in the dying minutes of the first half but an airborne Subrata Paul thwarted Akpele’s header. After the change of sides, JCT didn’t have to wait long for their first goal as Alvito pulled down Escobar in the box and the referee pointed to the penalty spot. Escobar was bang on target.
The teams were locked in an intense battle in the midfield. East Bengal were lucky enough to find the third goal in a rather unconventional way after Marques and JCT goalie Karanjit collided and with both players down on the ground the ball rolled into the net.
Karanjit was severely injured in the collision and had to be rushed to the hospital where he underwent a check-up including a head scan.
After increasing the margin, it seemed a smooth going for East Bengal but in the injury time Renedy came from nowhere to chip in the second goal that stunned the Kolkata team.
Earlier in the day, goals by Brazilian Jose Ramires Barreto (15th), Ishfaq Ahmed (39th) and P.C. Lalawmpuia (56th) kept Mohun Bagan in the hunt to defend their title. Sajesh P. struck from a free kick for Viva Kerala to reduce the margin.
The Kolkata giants didn’t feel the absence of Bhaichung Bhutia, who missed the match due to fever, as Ahmed, Lalawmpuia and Barreto worked tirelessly in both the midfield and the attack. As many as eight Mohun Bagan players were down with either fever or stomach upset but despite all odds they booked a semi-final berth.
Viva, formed just three years back, put up a spirited show against the defending champions and created some good moves but lack of co-ordination and experience among the players knocked them out of the tournament.
Mohun Bagan looked a bit disorganised in the midfield as compared to Viva and the Kolkata team have to put up an improved show in the semis, if they want to retain their title.
Barreto netted in the opening goal in the 15th minute from a goalmouth melee. A cross from Dharamjit Singh was headed down in front of the goal-line by Peter Odafea, and in a scamper Barreto took advantage of the goalmouth melee and guided the ball into the net.
Ahmed, who came in as a substitute for Dharamjit in the 35th minute was lurking in Viva’s defence, and pounced on a long ball from the centre half by Shanmugham Venkatesh. Ahmed had to muscle his way past two defenders and chipped over the goalie to double the lead in the 39th minute.
Despite being down by two goals, Viva fought with their heart out and Sajesh and Javed Ok kept on making regular inroads but couldn’t get the better of the Mohun Bagan defenders.
The Kerala team had few shots on the goal and Satish Kumar was found guilty squandering two clear chances. A through pass from Bimal Baruah found an unguarded Satish, who made a solo run into the box and only had goalkeeper Sangram Muhkerjee to beat, but instead chipped it over the net.
After the change of sides, Satish had a similar chance when he again caught Mukherjee by surprise and had an open net but shot it wide. Their only goal came in the 51st minute when a swerving free-kick by Sajesh completely foxed Mukherjee, who missed the flight of the ball.
Five minutes later, Lalawmpuia scored the third goal from a back-flick by Barreto. L. James Singh’s cross from the right flank was flicked back by the Brazilian striker and Lalawmpuia just guided it into the net.
TEAMS:
Match 1:
Mohun Bagan: Sangram Mukherjee (goalkeeper), Habibur Rehman Mondal (Suman Dutta, 46), Anit Ghosh, Peter Odafe, Rauf Khan (Sanjeev Maria, 70), L. James Singh, Mohammed Gafari, Shanmugham Venkatesh, Dharamjit Singh (Ishfaq Ahmed, 35), Jose Ramires Barreto, P.C. Lalawmpuia
Viva Kerela: Puroshothaman (goalkeeper), Othallo Tabia, Irungabam Singh, Satish Kumar, Sunil Kumar, Parveen Rawat (Javed Ok, 46), S. James Singh, Bimal Baruah (Shineraj 80), Santa Singh, Lalu K.V
Referee: Francisco Fernandes (Goa)
Match 2:
East Bengal: Subrata Paul (goalkeeper), M. Suresh, Majekodunmi Bolaji, Jayanta Sen, Surkumar Singh, Debabrata Roy, Alvito D’Cunha, Syed Rahim Nabi, Mehrajuddin Wadoo, Asim Biswas, Edmilson Marques (Dipendu Biswas, 90)
JCT: Karanjit Singh (goalkeeper) (Mukhwinderjit Singh, 75), Anwar, Baldeep Singh jr. (Harish Sharma, 39), Julius Irabor Akpele, Baljeet Singh Sahni, Rakinderjit Singh, Baldeep Singh (sr), Renedy Singh, Marcos Pereira, Sunil Chettri, Eduardo Escobar
Referee: Benjamin Silva (Goa)