By Abhishek Roy, IANS
Ludhiana : Kolkata giants East Bengal won the Federation Cup title for the fifth time, and after a gap of 11 years, as they beat 10-man Mahindra United 2-1 in the finals of the 29th edition of the prestigious tournament here Saturday.
A brace from Brazilian Edmilson Marques (34th, 45th) helped the famous red and gold brigade of the Kolkata Maidan to lift the trophy once again after 1996 at the Guru Nanak Stadium here.
All the goals came in the first half and Manjit Singh reduced the margin for the famed Mumbai outfit from a penalty strike.
The Kolkata team was under pressure in the first 25 minutes as a fierce attack from Mahindra gave the East Bengal defenders some anxious moments.
Steven Dias, who was back in the side after missing the semi-final against Dempo, made the first attempt for Mahindra but his powerful right-footer was collected well by East Bengal goalie Subrata Paul in the 16th minute.
Three minutes later the Mumbai team again got a chance to open the score when Ajayan Nair was cleverly set-up by Sushanth Matthew with a cross, but Nair was wayward in the box and the easy chance went begging.
But after the half-an-hour mark East Bengal gradually picked up their momentum and came close to draw the first blood when Ashim Biswas’ scorching drive on the turn went above the bar.
East Bengal were lucky to open the scoring in the 34th minute after they were awarded a penalty for a foul on Marques. The Brazilian was tripped inside the box by Mahindra defender Sunil Kumar. Marques was bang on target with his kick.
Mahindra were reduced to 10 men in 43rd minute after Kumar was given marching orders for committing a foul on the Brazilian again. A resilient Marques didn’t give up and raced into the Mahindra citadel two minutes later to split the defence with his screaming drive past goalie Sandip Nandy.
Mahindra pulled one back in the very next minute as Manjit struck from a penalty strike after their Congolese striker Minga Edson Dico was fouled in the box by Mehrajuddin Wadoo.
After the change of sides, East Bengal went into a defensive mode with midfielder Syed Rahim Nabi dropping back to strengthen their citadel. But the attacking midfielder made some good moves, which were foiled by the Mahindra goalie.
Mahindra playing upfront with Nigerian Andrew Pomeyie and Dico kept on pressing for the equaliser, which remained elusive. Even Dias fed the striker with his immaculate crosses but the strikers squandered all opportunities.
In the dying minutes of the game, East Bengal had a chance to increase the lead but Biswas chipped it wide when he had just the goalkeeper to beat.
TEAMS
East Bengal: Subrata Paul (goalkeeper), Saumik Dey, M. Suresh, Majekodnumi Bolaji, Surkumar Singh, Alvito D’Cunha (Dipankar Roy, 75th), Mehrajuddin Wadoo (Abdul Samed, 82), Jayanta Sen, Syed Rahim Nabi, Edmilson Marques (Dipendu Biswas, 85), Ashim Biswas
Mahindra United: Sandip Nandy (goalkeeper), Harpreet Singh, Dharamraj Ravanan, Sunil Kumar, Djiaja Pierre, Ajayan Nair, Steven Dias, Manjit Singh, Sushanth Matthew, Minga Edson Dico, Andrew Pomeyie