Mohun Bagan Super Giant defeated East Bengal FC 1-0 to clinch the Durand Cup finals win at Kolkata’s Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan on September 3. Mohun Bagan SG emerged as the winner for the first time in 23 years.
Mohun Bagan were one-man down after Anirudh Thapa was sent off in the 62nd minute, but the team still scored the decisive goal through a brilliant solo effort from Dimitri Petratos in the 71st minute. The Australian player skilfully weaved past the East Bengal defence, before unleashing a powerful strike from 25 yards out.
This was Mohun Bagan’s 17th Durand Cup title. The team last won the title in 2000 when they beat Mahindra United via a golden goal. Mohun Bagan thus avenged their 2004 Durand Cup final defeat to East Bengal when they had lost 1-2. In this phase, Mohun Bagan had lost three Durand Cup finals, the last being against Gokulam Kerala (1-2) in 2019.
From East Bengal’s perspective, a national-level title continued to elude them for more than 11 years now. Their last title at senior-level remains the Federation Cup in 2012. Both sides came close to scoring but none could make use of their chances to see a goal-less first 45 minutes.
