NorthEast United FC completed a brilliant comeback victory after being two goals down to overcome defending champions Mohun Bagan Super Giant on penalties and clinch the 133rd Durand Cup in a thrilling final which was played here at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan. This is the Highlanders maiden Durand Cup title and their first ever silverware in Indian football. The defending champions had taken a 2-0 lead in the first half through Jason Cummings and Sahal Abdul Samad. Alaaeddine Ajaraie and Guillermo Fernandez equalised in the second half and NorthEast goalkeeper Gurmeet Singh turned the hero, denying two spot kicks to ensure that his side complete a thrilling victory.

Juan Pedro Benali made a tactical decision leaving both Spanish attacking players Guillermo Fernandez and Nestor Albiach on the bench and starting Alaaeddine Ajaraie, Jithin M.S and Thoi Singh in attack with the Moroccan midfield duo of Mohammed Ali Bemammer and Hamza Regragui along with Mayakkannan Muthu shielding the defence led by Michel Zabaco. On the other end, Jose Molina started Jason Cummings and Greg Stewart along with Sahal Abdul Samad in attack with Liston Colaco and Manvir Singh providing the width in the pitch. Subhasish Bose returned to the starting eleven and slotted in a back three in defence along with Thomas Aldred and Alberto Rodriguez.

The nerves of a final were seen in the initial minutes as both teams looked cagey from the first whistle but it was the Kolkata side which settled into the game quicker. Sahal Abdul Samad was pulled down by Asheer Akhtar inside the box and the referee had an easy decision to point to the spot. Jason Cummings calmly slotted the resultant penalty in the goal past Gurmeet Singh by Jason Cummings to give the Mariners the crucial lead in the finals. .

The first half definitely belonged to the home side and they cemented it by doubling their advantage, deep into injury time. Liston Colaco found space in the left wing and surged inside the box past Dinesh Singh. The winger poked the ball into the path of Sahal who was free inside the box and the midfielder expertly scored past the diving Gurmeet Singh as the Mariners went into the break with a 2-0 lead.

NorthEast United levelled the scores in the blink of an eye with Ajaraie and Guillermo scoring in the space of three minutes to stun the Kolkata crowd. Jithin M.S setup Ajaraie on the edge of the box and the Moroccan slotted the ball into the right corner of the goal for the first goal. Minutes later, Ajaraie found Guillermo on the far post and the Spanish forward connected first time to leave Vishal Kaith rooted on the spot as the ball flew past him and stung the net for his fifth goal of the tournament and to level the score for the Highlanders.

The Highlanders continued to dominate the match from there on and pushed for the lead, leaving the Mohun Bagan defence and midfield clueless. Macarton Louis and Jithin M.S stung the palms of Vishal Kaith with their thunderous efforts as NorthEast kept the Mariners on the back foot during this dominant phase of play.

NorthEast continued to dominate proceedings as Mohun Bagan were looking the shadow of their first half performance. The Highlanders pushed for the decisive winning goal and created a couple of clear chances but could not take advantage of them. Dimi Petratos’s left footed effort which went inches wide of the goal was the only meaningful attempt that Mohun Bagan created in the second half as the finals went into penalties.

Gurmeet Singh saved the spot kicks of Liston Colaco and Subhasish Bose while Vishal Kaith could not produce his heroics from the last rounds as all four penalty takers, Guillermo Fernandez, Michel Zabaco, Parthib Gogoi and Alaaeddine Ajaraie converted their respective penalties. Only Jason Cummings, Manvir Singh and Dimitri Petratos could convert their penalties for Mohun Bagan.

Bengaluru FC will face defending champions Mohun Bagan in the second semifinal of the Durand Cup after the two teams secured contrasting wins in their respective last-eight clashes on Friday. While Mohun Bagan edged past Punjab FC 6-5 in tie-breaker after both sides ended 3-3 in regulation time, a late injury-time goal by Pererya Diaz ensured a 1-0 win for the Blues over Kerala Blasters in another quarterfinals. In a match where fortune swung like a pendulum, it was Luca Majcen who gave Punjab FC the lead in the 17th minute courtesy a spot-kick but Suhail Bhat (44th) and Manvir Singh (48th) put the green and maroon brigade ahead at the start of the second half.

Punjab were up 3-2 by the 71st minute with Filip Mrzljak (63rd) and Norberto Ezequiel Vidal (71st) finding the back of the net.

However, Aussie star Jason Cummings restored parity in the 79th minute to take the game into the extra time.

In the tie-breaker, Cummings missed Bagan’s first spot-kick but Punjab’s Croatian defender Novoselec was stopped by Mariners keeper Vishal Kaith from converting the fifth kick when they were on cusp of victory. It was Greg Stewart who promptly brought Bagan back on level terms.

As sudden death kicked in, Melroy Assisi converted for the Shers and so did Subhashish Bose and Aldred with the winning kick for MBSG, but Vishal’s second save, this time off Denechandram Meetei, turned decisive in the end.

Among Bagan’s other scorers in the tie-breaker were Manvir, Liston Colaco and Dimi Petratos while Vinit Rai, Vidal, Bakenga and Mrzljak scored for the losers.

The other match at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan started on a tense note when Kerala Blasters’ goalkeeper Som Kumar clashed heads with Bengaluru’s striker Pererya Diaz, forcing the Tuskers’s coach to make an early substitution and bringing in backup goalkeeper Sachin.

The first half was a display of tactical play, with both sides testing each other’s defences but failing to break the deadlock.

Bengaluru FC dominated possession, but despite their control, they couldn’t capitalise, with only one of their six shots on target.

Kerala Blasters came close to scoring in the 26th minute, but Blues’ goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu denied the effort from Noah Wail Sadaoui.

The second half saw the Blues pushing forward aggressively, but they were unable to convert their opportunities. A notable chance came in the 56th minute, but Pererya Diaz failed to connect with a cross from Shivaldo.

Bengaluru continued to dominate possession, yet their efforts were consistently thwarted by a resilient Kerala defence.

Sunil Chhetri‘s introduction in the 67th minute added more pressure on Kerala Blasters, but both teams struggled to find a decisive moment.

In the dying moments of injury time, Bengaluru was awarded a free-kick just outside the box.

Chhetri’s attempt was blocked by the wall, leading to a corner. From that corner, Pererya Diaz finally broke the deadlock, slotting the ball into the near post in the 94th minute to seal the win for Bengaluru FC.

In the first semifinal, Northeast United FC will face Shillong Lajong FC in Shillong on Saturday.

Supporters of arch-rivals East Bengal and Mohun Bagan gathered near the Salt Lake stadium, the venue of the cancelled Kolkata Derby, on Sunday evening in a rare show of camaraderie to protest the alleged rape and murder of a doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. Over a hundred supporters of the two clubs initially gathered outside the stadium with placards and posters even as a Durand Cup match between the two most-followed football clubs of the country was cancelled with police citing concerns over the law and order situation.

Supporters of the two clubs held each other’s flags and raised slogans demanding justice for the victim’s family, with a huge contingent of the police keeping a vigil on the situation. Supporters of the Mohammedan SC, another major football club, also joined the protests a while later.

Actor Usashi Chakraborty and theatre personality Sourav Palodhi were among the protesters wearing the jerseys of the clubs they support.

As the protests spilled onto the busy EM Bypass and blocked the traffic, police chased the agitators with canes in hand in a high-voltage drama and detained some of them. Even though the police were somewhat successful in breaking the gathering at first, the protesters regrouped in small numbers and continued raising slogans.

All India Football Federation (AIFF) president Kalyan Chaubey also reached the site a while later and met the angry fans of the three clubs.

“It is very shameful. Law and order have completely collapsed in West Bengal. A football match could not happen… and look at police deployment, it looks like a riot is going on,” Chaubey, also a BJP leader, told PTI-Video.

The arterial road connecting the city’s northern end to the south was eventually blocked at different locations, including Kadapara and Beleghata Connector crossings, disrupting the flow of traffic to and from the airport.

“We want justice for the sister who was gang-raped and murdered. Together, we Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Mohammedan fans have assembled here peacefully. Why so many policemen have been deployed here? Why the match had to be cancelled? Don’t we have the right to demand justice for the victim,” asked Bittu Senapati, a Mohun Bagan supporter.

Police said prohibitory orders under section 163 of the BNSS were imposed in the area from 4 pm till midnight to prevent any disruption of peace.

For defying the prohibitory orders, some of those who gathered here were detained, they said.

As the police tried to whisk away those detained, the football fans tried to block the way of the vans.

Palodhi said, “We only want to air our anger over the shocking incident. Everything cannot run smoothly, normally when the security of women is at stake.” As the sun went down and darkness set in, more supporters of the three clubs poured in to join the protests.

Screaming at the police, a woman dressed in Mohun Bagan’s maroon-green colours said, “Where were you when the vandals took siege of the RG Kar Hospital, and doctors, nurses and common people ran for their lives? Where were you when costly medical equipment at the hospital was being vandalised?” Waving the Tricolour along with the flags of the three clubs, a group of football lovers also sang the national anthem amid chants of “We want justice”.

“We only have one demand, we want justice for the doctor and her family,” an East Bengal supporter said, holding a festoon that said, “Two clubs but one voice, justice for RG Kar.” Police said there were intelligence inputs that attempts would be made to trigger violence during the match, because of which it was cancelled.

“We had specific information that some groups and organisations would attempt to create disturbance in the stadium,” a senior police officer said, adding that 63,000 spectators were expected for the match.

“Keeping in view the safety and security of the football lovers, we took up the matter with the Derby committee and decided to cancel today’s match,” he said.

The postgraduate trainee doctor was allegedly raped and murdered while on duty at the RG Kar MCH. When a demonstration was underway against the gruesome incident in the early hours of August 15, a mob ransacked parts of the hospital.