Mohun Bagan steamrolled Salgaocar 4-0 in their second leg of the Hero Federation Cup 2016 tie at the Barasat Stadium in Kolkata today (May 05, 2016) to set up a clash against Shillong Lajong in the semi-finals of the Championship, as the Mariners defeated Salgaocar 7-2 on aggregate.
After a close fought 3-2 away win against Salgaocar in Goa in the first leg, the Mariners decimated their opponents 4-0 at the Barasat Stadium in a one-sided display. Katsumi Yusa opened the scoring in the 25th minute for the Mariners with Sony Norde scoring on either side of the half-time break (45+1', 52'), before Jeje Lalpekhlua struck late to finish off the proceedings in extra time of the second half.
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The hosts had two glaring chances missed in the first four minutes of the match itself. Jeje’s shot from a cross was met with a goal line save and in the very next minute, Eder managed to block off a shot from a deflection by Jeje. Kinshuk Debnath was booked for an offence on Darryl Duffy in the 12th minute of the match.
However, the game was mostly played in midfield with both teams fighting it out to take the ball into the opposing half. Jeje Lalpekhlua attempted a bicycle kick from a Pritam Kotal cross in the 22nd minute, which was met by Eder’s thigh, preventing the home side from the lead.
However, the Mariners did not have to wait long as skipper Katsumi Yusa tapped the ball home in the 25th minute to give Bagan a solitary goal lead after Sony Norde’s delicious square pass from the left flank found him unmarked in the 18-yard box.
The best chance for Salgaocar came in the 32nd minute when Calvin Mbarga missed a sitter as he failed to do justice to Martin Scott’s cross which found him clear of the defensive mix in Bagan’s box.
Katsumi turned provider at the stroke of half time to double the Mariners' advantage as he released a deft pass, which found Sony Norde into the box who struck it past an onrushing Karanjit Singh to score Bagan's second as the half-time scoreline read 2-0.
With Bagan taking a 5-2 lead on aggregate, the fixture was more or less sealed in the first half itself. However, the Mariners were not the ones for stopping their goal scoring spree and in the 52nd minute, Sony Norde scored his second of the match as he placed the ball into the bottom corner to make it 3-0 for Bagan.
The day seemed to get worse for the away side as both Daryl Duffy and Jackichand Singh were only able to rattle the crossbar from close range.
In the dying embers of the second half, Jeje went on a mazy run past a tired Salgaocar defence before dispatching Karanjit with ease to score Bagan’s fourth goal of the night as the full-time scoreline read 4-0.
