Snehashish Dutta gave United the lead in the 17th minute but East Bengal fought back after Alan Gow equalised via a penalty in the 37th minute. The teams were locked 1-1 at the breather. The victory took East Bengal to the Federation Cup final for the third consecutive year.
There was drama in store during the second session after referee Magho Singh showed two red cards to United’s Joshimar and Deepak Mondal in the 69th and 79th minutes, respectively. These incidents had a huge impact on the match as a wayward East Bengal regrouped and went all out in search of the winner.
They finally found it in the 82nd minute. Penn Orji initiated the move, getting past two defenders and passing the ball on to Baljeet Sahni. The striker, in turn, back passed to Paite, who substituted Reisangmi Vashum in the 80th minute. Without showing any signs of rustiness, Paite’s thunderous left-footer from the edge of the box found the net.
Earlier, after several attempts, United broke the deadlock in the 17th minute. Malsawamtluanga, who was operating on the left flank, lobbed the ball to a surging Joshimar. But both Joshimar and East Bengal goalkeeper Sandip Nandy, who had rushed out of his charge, missed the flight. The ball landed near Snehashish, who found the mark with ease.
East Bengal levelled the scoreline in the 36th minute when Gow was tripped by Bello Rassaq inside the box. The Scot did not disappoint.
It was, however, disheartening to see the standard of refereeing. If the decision to award a penalty in favour of East Bengal was justified, the referee messed it up on other occasions.
In the 59th minute, Naoba Singh pushed Yusif Yakubu inside the box. United players appealed for a penalty but the referee overruled.
Joshimar went charging towards the referee and pulled his shirt. Immediately, the referee flashed the yellow card. The Brazilian saw his second yellow in the 79th minute when he tripped East Bengal defender Saumik Dey intentionally.
United was again at the receiving end of the referee’s wrath a little later. Having already been cautioned for a foul on Tolgay in the 45th minute, Deepak Mondal’s second yellow was completely uncalled for. The referee could have overlooked the incident since he fouled Saumik Dey in a not-so-dangerous position.
After these setbacks, United lost the zeal to fight as the red-and-gold brigade romped home. East Bengal, in fact, could have added another one to their tally. Penn failed to score with only United goalkeeper Abhijit Mondal in front during injury time. His shot ricocheted off the right post. Off the rebound, the ball went to Baljeet, who too found the bar in the way.
United did impress at the start. East Bengal were found wanting for most part of the match. They were without the services of Mehtab Hussain, who has held their midfield together. His replacement, Harmanjyot Khabra, was a disaster as he failed to block most of United’s forays.
United could have taken the lead as early as the first minute. Joshimar showed great presence of mind as he got past Nirmal Chetri before passing it on to a surging Lalkamal Bhowmick. The captain’s right-footer was saved by an alert East Bengal goalkeeper Nandy. Then in the 50th minute, Joshimar’s header went straight to Nandy.
It the end, though, it was East Bengal who scored when it mattered most.
TEAMS
East Bengal: Sandip Nandy, Nirmal Chetri, Uga Okpara, Saumik Dey (Robert Lalthlamuana, 86), Harmanjyot Khabra, Naoba Singh, Reisangmi Vashum (Khangtang Paite, 80), Sanju Pradhan, Tolgay Ozebe (Penn Orji, 66), Alan Gow, Balji Sahni
United SC: Abhijit Mondal, Arnab Mondal, Deepak Mondal, Bello Rasaq, Sukhen Dey, Denson Devadas (Kayne Vincent, 86), Lalkamal Bhowmick, Malsawamtluanga (Chinta Chandrasekhar Rao, 84), Snehashish Dutta (Gourango Biswas, 77), Yusif Yakubu, Josimar Dasilva
Referee: Magho Singh