The colour of the derby is red and yellow! East Bengal beats Mohun Bagan in Durand semis with Dimi's double goal
The color of Yuvbharati has become Red and Yellow. Photo by Bibhash Lodh / BS News Agency.
Sanchita Chatterjee, BS News Agency, Kolkata: The color of Yuvbharati has become red and yellow. Emami East Bengal reached the semifinals of the Durand Cup by sinking the boat. Oscar Brujo's team defeated Mohun Bagan Super Giants 2-1 in the high-voltage quarter-final today. The double goal was scored by 'super sub' Dimitrios Diamantaks.
East Bengal started playing positive football from the beginning of the match. The red and yellow team had some problems when Moroccan forward Hamid Ahdad, who was in the goal, left the field with an injury in the 16th minute. Diamantaks came on as a replacement for Hamid Ahdad. In the 36th minute, Edmund Lalrindika was brought down by Techcham Abhishek Singh and the referee rejected his appeal for offside. However, East Bengal were awarded a penalty a minute later. Bipin Singh was illegally obstructed by Ashish Rai. Dimitrios Diamantaks scored from the penalty spot to give East Bengal the lead after escaping the reach of Mohun Bagan SG goalkeeper Vishal Keith.
Despite Liston Colasso, Jamie McLaren, Apuya, Pasang Dorji Tamangra, the red and yellow goalkeeper Prabhsukhon Gill did not have to face such a challenge in the first half. Jose Molina's team could not keep a single shot on target, which is quite inconsistent compared to their recent performance. Only before half-time, Apuya's long-range shot narrowly missed the target.
Photo BS News Agency,
After the break, however, Mohun Bagan Super Giants came back into the game. Jason Cummings was brought down by Molina at the start of the second half. A desperate attempt to equalize was visible. However, the goal was not opening. The red and yellows got their second goal seven minutes after the start of the second half. Diamantaks fooled the Bagan defense with a swift shot after receiving the ball from Naurem Mahesh.
Mohun Bagan Super Giants started to bite the death after the 66th minute of the match. A minute later, Mohun Bagan Super Giants reduced the gap with a goal by Anirudh Thapa in the 68th minute of the match. Before that, Sahal Abdul Samad was brilliant. Although his two good attempts were saved by Kevin Sibye and Anwar Ali. After Anirudh scored, one after another attack started hitting the red and yellow defense like a wave in order to restore parity. As soon as the desired goal was scored, Molina brought on Dimitrios Petrats, Dipendu Biswas and Deepak Tangri. The way the green maroons were putting pressure on East Bengal, the red-yellow camp was quite worried about how long they could maintain a one-goal lead.
Photo BS News Agency.
To relieve the pressure of Mohun Bagan's attack, Brujo brought on three substitutes. He brought on Souvik Chakraborty, PV Vishnu and David. East Bengal created opportunities to increase the lead in the attack-to-attack match but failed to score another goal. Dimio also came close to scoring a hat-trick. Miguel Ferreira and Kevin's fight also earned praise. Despite getting 6 minutes of injury time in the second half, the Bagan camp could not restore parity. East Bengal secured its second derby win of the current season as the final whistle blew. They reached the semi-finals. East Bengal did not get Rashid today as he returned home due to the death of his father. The red and yellow teammates dedicated the victory to him by taking Rashid's jersey.
Photo Bs News Agency.
On the other hand, Abhishek Banerjee's Diamond Harbour FCO, which faced a humiliating defeat to Mohun Bagan SG, also reached the semi-finals. They defeated Jamshedpur FC 2-0 in Jamshedpur today.
