Thaindian News

New Delhi, Sep 16 (IANS) Riding on a brace each from Surkumar Singh and Edeh Chidi, Mohun Bagan demolished ONGC 5-1 in their opening quarter final league match of the 122nd Durand Cup football tournament here Wednesday.
Fresh from their IFA Shield final loss to Churchill Brothers, Mohun Bagan put on a clinical performance to stake claim to their 17th Durand Cup title at the Ambedkar Stadium.

The Green and Maroon brigade from Kolkata could have won by a bigger margin, but Jose Barreto missed a penalty. The Brazilian, however, atoned for it in the 43rd minute by scoring a brilliant goal in the group two match of the tournament.

Mohun Bagan dominated the proceedings right from the start as Chidi and Barreto combined well to rattle the ONGC defence. For ONGC, nothing went their way and their striker Baba Tunde and Lalsangzuala didn’t get much support from the half-line. Tunde, however, managed to score the solitary goal in the 82nd minute.

The 16-time champions went ahead in the ninth minute after an unmarked Surkumar hit from a rebound off James Singh’s perfect flag-kick.

Nigerian Chidi came close to double the lead in the very next minute but missed the sitter after being set up by James. The Nigerian striker finally found the net six minutes later after he scored from a goalmouth mêlee to stun the hapless ONGC defenders.

The ONGC defence crumbled under relentless attack of Chidi and Barreto and their desperation was apparent after Barretto was brought down in the box in the 39th minute. The Brazilian shockingly squandered the opportunity as ONGC goalkeeper Billy Fung Nazary made a timely dive to save the powerless shot.

Four minutes later, Barreto made up for the mistake and unleashed his powerful right-footer that crashed into the net as Mohun Bagan went into the break with a 3-0 lead.

ONGC failed to rejuvenate them even after the breather barring a slim chance when Lalsangzuala’s well-directed shot was saved by goalkeeper Sangram Mukherjee.

In the last 10 minutes, Mohun Bagan were all over and Chidi completed his brace in the 82nd minute from Shanta Kumar’s precise pass. Surkumar struck again in the dying minutes with a long ranger to complete the tally.