Mohun Bagan Super Giant on Saturday secured a memorable Indian Super League double, lifting the ISL Cup after beating Bengaluru FC 2-1 in a tense final in Kolkata to add to the League Winners’ Shield it had won earlier in the season. After a goal-less first half, Mohun Bagan’s Alberto Rodriguez scored an own goal in the 49th minute to give Bengaluru FC the lead. Mohun Bagan striker Jason Cummings then struck from the penalty spot to restore parity in the 72nd minute. The match went into the extra time and Jamie Maclaren scored the decisive goal after six minutes (96th) to the wild celebrations of the vociferous Mohun Bagan supporters at the Salt Lake Stadium.
Mohun Bagan thus became only the second team in the ISL history to clinch the League Winners’ Shield as well as the ISL Cup in the same season, after Mumbai City did the same in the 2020-21.
The top team in the points table after home and away league matches among the 13 participating clubs wins the League Winners’ Shield. Mohun Bagan had finished on top with 56 points after 24 gruelling matches to lift the Shield and also qualify for the AFC Champions League 2, the second tier club competition in Asia.
After the league phase, a knock-out round is played involving the top six teams on the points table. Mohun Bagan and Bengaluru FC won their respective semifinals to set up Saturday’s summit clash to decide the ISL Cup winners.
MBSG banked on the crowd support to make a defining start to the game, with Jamie Maclaren coming close with a right footed shot from the same side of the box, which was saved in the bottom left corner by Gurpreet Singh Sandhu in the ninth minute.
They kept functioning dynamically in tandem, as Anirudh Thapa, usually pulling the strings at the centre, made an inroad into the 18-yard area and sent a right footed shot that was blocked in time.
The Blues responded with a flurry of opportunities around the 20th-minute mark, with Alberto Noguera stretching the MBSG defence wide and delivering a cross for Sunil Chhetri who, however, couldn’t capitalise upon. A subsequent headed effort from Edgar Mendez was saved at the centre of the goal by Vishal Kaith to keep the scores level.
Bengaluru FC got the breakthrough in the 49th minute, courtesy of an own goal by defender Alberto Rodriguez. Williams was afforded ample space on the right flank and he optimised it with a whipping cross directed for Mendez inside the box.
Subhasish Bose, who was marking Williams, could not close down his target. Rodriguez attempted to clear the ball but ended up hammering it into the back of his own net under pressure.
Seven minutes later, Bose recovered possession near the halfway mark and sent a delivery that met Jason Cummings just outside the penalty area. The striker did well to control the ball and unleashed a left footed effort that required a fully stretched dive from Sandhu to stop the ball from finding the net.
However, MBSG earned a reprieve in the form of a penalty due to a handball by Chinglensana Singh. In the 72nd minute, Cummings stepped up for spot-kick duties and effortlessly converted the opportunity by caressing the ball into the bottom left corner with his left foot to bring the contest back on level terms.
As the game entered the fag end of the regulation time, Kaith sent in a long ball that Ashique Kuruniyan tried to hit home, albeit from a difficult angle on the left, but to no avail.
Greg Stewart’s lateral ball for Tom Aldred was headed from the left side of the six yard box by the defender, but it missed the target to the right.
The match entered the extra time, and it did not take Maclaren too long to finally make an impact in the grand finale.
With MBSG putting more men upfront, the Bengaluru FC defence slipped into a spot of bother. Maclaren’s fierce effort from inside the box as soon as he gained possession beat Sandhu and hit the centre of the net in the 96th minute, sealing a memorable win for Mohun Bagan.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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