By Abhishek Roy, IANS
Ludhiana : Substitute goalkeeper Subhasish Roy Chowdhury helped Mumbai outfit Mahindra United beat national league champions Dempo Sports Club of Goa 3-1 via the tie-breakers after the regulation time ended in a 1-1 draw in the second semi-final of the 29th Federation Cup football tournament here Wednesday.
Mahindra will face Kolkata giants East Bengal in the finals Saturday.
Subhasish came in as a replacement in the dying minutes of the extra-time in place of Sandip Nandy, who also had a brilliant day under the bar at the Guru Nanak Stadium.
For Mahindra, N.P Pradeep, Harpreet Singh and Ivory Coast’s Djiaja Pierre were on target in the tie-breakers. Subhasish saved shots from Brazilian Beto and Nigerian Ranty Martins while Clifford Miranda shot it wide for Dempo, the costliest team in the history of Indian football.
Martins’ compatriot Edeh Chidi was the only player to find the net for the national league champions in the tie-breakers.
Subhasish put up some clever antics, which frustrated both Beto and Martins and they shot in the hands of the goalkeeper.
For the second time in the tournament, Mahindra had to take the route of tie-breakers – after their match against Sporting Clube de Goa in the quarterfinals.
In that match too, Subhasish was the saviour for the Mumbai outfit by foiling the decider spot kick by Bibiano Fernandes to keep the 2005 champions in the title hunt.
“Going into the tie-breaker, I was confident,” said Mahindra coach Derek Pereira, adding that Subhasish’s antics during the tie-breakers were normal.
“It was a collective effort. We knew we had to defend well against a good time like Dempo and managed to block the flanks,” Pereira added.
Both teams played well en route to the semi but Wednesday saw a lacklustre display and regulation as well as extra time ended in a 1-1 draw.
The Mumbai outfit took the lead in the 32nd minute form a Manjit Singh strike. A pinpoint pass from Congo’s Minga Edson Dico found an unmarked Manjit in the box and the striker’s powerful right-footer from the right side of the box found the far post.
The Goan outfit did not have to wait long for the equaliser, which came six minutes later after Brazilian Beto took advantage of goalmouth melee and stabbed in to draw parity.
After the change of sides, both the teams looked like a lethargic lot and they lacked the penetration power to break the deadlock.
The lethal combination of Nigerians Martins and Chidi proved blunt against a resolute Mahindra defence.
The Mumbai outfit on the other hand clearly felt the absence of creative midfielder Steven Dias, out with two yellow cards.
In the fag end of the extra-time, Dempo got two clear chances when Jerry Zirsinga and Sushant Matthew’s powerful and well directed drives were saved by an airborne Nandy.
“There was no penetration power. We have to work with our new comers. Chidi could have finished the game, but a tie-breaker is a lottery,” said Dempo coach Armando Colaco.
TEAMS:
Mahindra United: Sandip Nandy (goalkeeper) (Subhasish Roy Chowdhury, 120), Sushanth Matthew, Harpreet Singh, N.P. Pradeep, Dharmraj Ravanan, Sukhwinder Singh, Ajayan Nair, Arata Izumi (Mohammed Rafi, 56), Djiaja Pierre, Manjit Singh, Minga Edson Dico (Andrews Pomeyie, 10)
Dempo Sports Club: Abhjit Mondal (goalkeeper), Sameer Naik, Mahesh Gawli, Valeriano Rebello, John Dias, Clifford Miranda (Nicolau Borges, 105), Climax Lawrence, Roberto Silva Beto, Peter Carvalho (Jerry Zirsinga, 99), Ranty Martins, Edeh Chidi
Referee: A. Arjunan (Services)