Signing off, the Mariners go through with a massive 7-2 aggregate win.
All in all, a very professional performance from Mohun Bagan. They are favorites to win the competition now. If they already weren’t.
94: The goal was literally the last kick of the ball. Full-Time Mohun Bagan 4-0 Salgaocar. Sanjoy Sen will be happy
94: GOAALLLL. WHAT A GOAL. Jeje with a solo goal. Attacks the defence, Karanjit had absolutely no chance. You simply can’t keep this man out.
90: Four minutes of Added Time. Sony Norde awarded the Hero of the Match Award for his brace.
89: The game has opened up a lot now. In between everything, Glen with a brilliant back-heel. All Vine makers. Pointer.
88: Debjit more than makes up for that with a brilliant goal-line save. Saityasen with the shot.
86: Debjit with a very narrow escape there. Macarenhas the substitute with a free kick. It should have been a regulation save.
85: Substitution for MB. Lenny off. Souvik in.
83: The game has petered out a bit. The supporters of the Mariners are heading for an early exit. I can’t see thier faces, but am sure they look happy.
81: Apparently Martin Scott is called Jimmy. This is the fifth time the commentator mentions that. God.
78: What an effort by Duffy. Tries to lobs Debit, misses by a whisker. Duffy can hold his head high after the match, he has played his heart out.
71: Katsumi has moved to the left and Azzarudin has moved to the right. Glen takes his number 10 place.
70: Sony Norde comes off. What a huge reception from the MB fans. Glen takes his place.
66: Substitution for Salgaocar. Gabriel Fernandes off. Saityasen in.
65: The cross bar, the up-right has been hit four times by Salgaocar in the last min. What a sequence of play. Martin Scott and Duffy involved (obviously).
63: Substitution for MB. Debnath off. Gaikwad in.
61: Free kick on the right for Salgaocar. What a delivery by Fernandez headed over by Calvin.
59: Jeje tries an audacious chip. The Mohun Bagan players are showboating now. I can't blame them, most of it is coming off as well.
58: Substitution for Salgaokar. Colacao off. Macarenhas in.
55: That man Sony Norde. Megs a defender goes past another. He’s enjoying himself now. Bad tackle though by the Salgaocar defender.
52: WHAT A GOAL. Sony Norde fakes to shoot with his right, takes two men out when he takes it on his left. Top Corner. Very Zedanish.
50: Sony Norde collects a long cross-field pass from Lenny. Takes on a player and shoots saved by Karanjit.
48: What a touch by Jeje. Katsumi almost gets there, Karanjit gets there first.
45: We get underway b Salgaocar, the 13-time champions are on the front foot straight away.
45: The players are back onto the field for the second half. If we go to extra time from here, we are in for a cracker of a game. Salgaocar have to find a way to get Duffy and Jackichand into the game.
45+2: This might be game over for Salgaocar. They will need to score three goals in the second half to take this tie to extra-time. The miss by Calvin at 1-0 comes to mind.
45+1: GOALLL. Sony Norde this time. Salgaocar defense tries to play a high line, Norde takes the ball, fakes to shoot at the far post and slots it inside the first bar.
44: Long-ball by Eder onto the head of Duffy. Corner for Salgaocar.
42: Sony Norde is one of those players who make you sit at the edge your seat. Another good run, but ultimately comes to nothing. No thanks to Lenny, shoots into the night sky.
39: Corner for Salgaocar. Onto the head of Duffy, blocked by MB, Duffy appeals vigorously for a corner.
34: Debnath has to be careful, he has already been booked, he gave away the free kick on the 30 min mark as well. MB don’t want to go down to 10 men.
32: WHAT A MISS by Calvin. Shoots over from 5 yards. That can come back to bite Salgaocar.
30: Free kick on the edge of the area. Duffy shoots with his shin, the rebound shot by Reagan Singh.
28: The crowd is going wild, with a chant of “Norde.....Norde”
26: GOALLL for MB. Katsumi. What a run by Norde, crosses for an easy tap in for Katsumi. Have to say that was coming for a while.
24:What a touch by Jeje again, makes a chance for himself, saved brilliantly by the GK Karanjit again.
22: Lovely play by MB. The ball worked out to Kothal on the right, played in. WHAT AN EFFORT by Jeje. Side volley, Eder blocks it.
20: Katsumi on the right, another corner. Corner defended by Scott. Delivered again defended well by Eder.
19: The game opening up now, Salgaocar expectedly committing a lot of men forward.
17: Lovely counter from MB. Crossfield pass by Katsumi to Sony, Sony takes the ball outside, crosses into the midriff of the GK.
15: Martin Scott really looks so graceful on the ball. Drifts past players always has time and is quite robust as well.
13: The free kick comes to nothing, well defended by MB.
12: Darryl Duffy is holed down by Debnath, the yellow card comes out from the Ref. A tricky game from here on for Debnath, especially against Jackichand.
10: Lovely one-two between Norde and Katsumi, passes to Lenny Rodrigues goes back to his central defenders.
7: The game has already set into a pattern of possession for both teams. Martin Scott will be important for Salgaocar,
4: Jackichand looks to be playing on the left, rolls the ball past Debnath, but Debnath gets back to make the challenge and clear.
2: The corner goes behind again. Another corner for MB. The second corner almost results in a goal, shot from Jeje, brilliant save by Karanjit.
1: Mohun Bagan has started on the front foot. Katsumi on the right wing. Deflected behind, the first corner for MB.
0: The Mariners to kick off the game.
0: The players are being led on the pitch by the Ref. Huge support for Mohun Bagan.
18:52 IST : The Stadium is filling up soon, ten minutes to kick-off
Confirmed Playing 11s
SALGAOCAR FC XI : Karanjit Singh(GK); Reagan Singh, Eder Monteiro, Gabriel Fernandes, Nicolau Colaco; Thangjam Saran Singh, Martin Scott, Leny Levis Pereira; Jackichand Singh, Darryl Duffy(C), Calvin Mbarga.
MOHUN BAGAN XI : Debjit Majumder(GK); Pritam Kotal, Kinshuk Debnath, Luciano Sobrosa, Dhanachandra Singh; Bikramjit Singh, Katsumi Yusa(C), Lenny Rodrigues; Azharuddin Mallick, Jeje Lalpekhlua, Sony Norde.
The only way we go to extra-time is if we have a reverse of the scoreline from the first leg, ie, Mohun Bagan 2-3 Salgaocar.
The second leg of the pre-semi final between Mohun Bagan and Salgaocar promises to be a mouthwatering clash. The first leg ended with a scoreline of 2-3 in the favor of the Mariners. With Aizawl FC knocking out Bengaluru on Tuesday, and Shillong Lajong knocking out arch-rivals East Bengal, Mohun Bagan is natural favorites to win the competition if they qualify for the Semi-Finals. The recently introduced away goals rule in the Hero Federation Cup also aids the Mariners, sitting pretty with three away goals. Mohun Bagan will also be buoyed by the fact that the teams taking Aggregate Leads in the First Leg have gone on to qualify for the Semi-Finals.
Salgaocar though will be aiming to spoil the Green and Maroon party. This week has been marked by incidents which involve the underdogs coming up on top gainst the much fancied (think Leicester). Mario Soares, the new manager after Santosh Kashyap was sacked on the last day of the I-League Season can potentially make a huge first impression by winning the tie.
The biggest positive for the Mohun Bagan side will be the fitness of Sony Norde, he will most likely be partnering Jeje up-front. Jeje has had one of his best seasons so far and will be looking to continue the form going into this match. When asked about the recently crowned Football Players’ Association of India (FPAI) Player of the Year, Sanjoy Sen the Bagan coach was typical in his assessment "I am very happy with Jeje's form. If a striker scores a goal there is a high possibility that he might get another in the same match. That is the responsibility of a striker to get the goals and it is a universal rule that you continue to back your strikers”
The key for Salgaocar will be to get frequent delivery to Duffy, who has scored 11 goals during the I-League season. Jackichand Singh, the Manipuri boy will be key to unlock Mohun Bagan’s defense which will be led by Luciano Sobrosa.The probable Playing 11 with the probable formations for the two sides are as follows :
Mohun Bagan Probable 11 (4-4-1-1): Debjit Majumder ; Kinshuk Debnath, Luciano Sobrosa, Prabir Das and Dhanachandra Singh; Lenny Rodrigues, Pronay Halder, Katsumi Yusa, Kean Lewis; Norde; Jeje;
Salgaocar Probable 11 (4-3-2-1): Karanjit Singh ; Eder Monteiro, Reagan Singh, Saran Singh, Augustin Fernandes ; Martin Scott, Rocus Lamare, Gabriel Fernandes ; Jackichand Singh,Calvin Mbarga; Daryl Duffy;
The match will be live from Barasat Stadium at 1900 hours.
