Bagan beat United SC to enter final of IFA Shield

KOLKATA: Mohun Bagan showed nerves of steel even after being reduced to 10 men from the eighth minute onwards to edge out United SC 5-4 in penalty shootout and set up a summit clash against Churchill Brothers in the 114th IFA Shield, on Wednesday.
The newly-laid artificial turf at Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Salt Lake saw the second semifinal being decided through tie-breaker as both the sides failed to score in regulation period and extra time.
The first semifinal between Churchill Brothers and Air India on Tuesday was also decided via penalty shootout in which the Goans won 4-2 after being tied 1-1 in 120 minutes of play.
Substitute goalkeeper Sangram Mukherjee gave Mohun Bagan a flying start in the tie-breaker by saving Jayanta Sen's shot from the spot.
All the five Mohun Bagan penalty takers -- Marcos Pereira, Rakesh Masih, Snehashis Chakraborty, Surkumar Singh and James Singh -- then found the target to send the Green-and-Maroons to the final.
Earlier, Mohun Bagan's starting goalkeeper Shilton Paul did all the hard work thwarting all United efforts for 120 minutes but Sangram emerged the hero with his anticipation diving to the right to deny Sen in the penalty shootout.
Sen's miss proved costly for United though PC Lalawmpuia, Eduardo Coelho, Lal Kamal Bhowmick and Subhashish Roy Chowdhury found the net from the spot.