The contest began with East Bengal looking dangerous in attack. Edmund Lalrindika, who had scored a hat-trick against Mohun Bagan in the Durand Cup final, came close to opening the scoring, but goalkeeper Vishal Kaith produced an important save to keep the Mariners in the game. Mohun Bagan gradually found their rhythm and began creating chances of their own, with Mehtab Singh going close with a header.

The breakthrough arrived just before half-time. Sahal Abdul Samad delivered a clever chipped pass into the penalty area, where Zeljkovic controlled the ball with his chest before calmly finishing to give Mohun Bagan the lead. The goal gave the defending champions a crucial advantage heading into the break.

East Bengal pushed forward after the restart in search of an equaliser, increasing the pressure as the match entered its closing stages. Lukasz Zwolinski came close with a header but failed to find the target, while Kaith made another important save to deny the Polish forward. Mohun Bagan’s defence remained organised under pressure, with Dejan Drazic also putting in a determined performance to help protect the lead.

Despite East Bengal’s late attempts, the Mariners held firm through seven minutes of stoppage time to secure the victory. The result offered Mohun Bagan a measure of revenge after their 4-1 defeat to East Bengal in the Durand Cup final in August and ensured they retained the IFA Shield crown.

For Mohun Bagan, the triumph adds another chapter to their rich history in the competition. For East Bengal, the narrow defeat will be disappointing after their emphatic run to the final, but the rivalry between Indian football’s two historic Kolkata clubs continues to deliver high-stakes encounters and memorable moments.

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The derby exploded into life from the first whistle. Mohun Bagan applied early pressure, with Jason Cummings and Robson Azevedo testing the Mohammedan defence. Yet it was the visitors who struck first in the 12th minute. Lalthankima rose highest to meet Lalngaihsaka’s corner and powered a header past Vishal Kaith, stunning the home crowd.

The response from the Mariners was swift and ruthless. Robson Azevedo hit the crossbar before curling in a precise finish in the 22nd minute to restore parity. Just four minutes later, the Brazilian struck again, reacting quickest to a loose ball inside the box to put Mohun Bagan ahead.

Jamie Maclaren added a third in the 35th minute after a defensive lapse, calmly finishing from close range to send the Mariners into half-time with a firm grip on the contest.

The second half followed a similar pattern, with Mohun Bagan dictating the tempo. Manvir Singh extended the lead in the 62nd minute, his diving header taking a deflection on its way in. Dimitri Petratos then produced a moment of brilliance in the 70th minute, unleashing a powerful long-range strike that clipped the woodwork before finding the net.

Mohammedan attempted to respond with long-range efforts, but Mohun Bagan remained in complete control. Subhajit Bhattacharjee prevented the margin from growing further with a string of saves, denying Liston Colaco, Sahal Abdul Samad, and Maclaren.

At full time, the 5-1 scoreline reflected Mohun Bagan’s dominance in every department. Robson Azevedo’s influential display earned him the Player of the Match award, as the Mariners underlined their title ambitions with a statement derby victory.

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Mohun Bagan seemed happy to play out a 1-1 stalemate against Bengaluru FC at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack in the last encounter of Group B in the Federation Cup as both sides booked a semi final berth.

With semis place already booked, Mohun Bagan started with a series of changes as Sanjoy Sen went for a 4-3-3 formation with Jeje Lalpekhlua at front alongside Sony Norde and Kean Lewis with Katsumi Yusa manning the midfield. At the other end, Albert Roca brought back Amrinder Singh in goal while Lenny Rodrigues and Seminlen Doungel replaced Eugeneson Lyngdoh and Daniel Lalhlimpuia.

After a cautious first ten minutes, Bengaluru went into the lead in the 11th minute through Alwyn George trickery at the right end of the box managing to go past Subhasish Bose and with Kinshuk Debnath in no man’s land; the striker slotted his shot into the near post with Debjit Majumder’s dive coming too late. Blues soon grew in confidence as they created few more chances first Alwyn’s shot got deflected out for a corner before Sunil Chhetri managed to hit the post with a header from the resulting corner.

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The Mariners slowly made their way into the game with Katsumi Yusa coming close to scoring with a header at the half hour mark that was well caught by a diving Amrinder. Minutes before halftime, Jeje volleyed a shot over the bar from the center of the box as both sides entered the tunnel with blues leading by a solitary goal.

On restart blues created the first chance when Seminlen Doungel chose to go for goal instead of playing on his fellow team-mates in space and sent it straight to a grateful Debjit. In the 50^th minute, Sony Norde brought the game back to level terms when after beating Khabra with his trickery, he beat Amrinder with a low angled shot towards the far corner. Sunil Chhetri soon trudged out uncomfortably as the the veteran player seemed to pick up a niggle, Albert Roca replaced him with young Zaula taking no chances.

Both teams looked content to sit back after the goal and played out the remaining minutes with ease, with both having ensured qualification. Mohan Bagan had a chance late in the game that could have killed the blues hopes of making into the last four when Sehnaj slammed the ball from distance and Amrinder parried it away but only as far as Katsumi who was flagged offside as he attempted to kick the loose ball much to the relief of coach Albert Roca.

Bengaluru are all set to take on I league champions Aizawl FC in the first Semi final encounter on Sunday, while East Bengal and Mohun Bagan meet for a mouth-watering ‘Kolkata Derby’ in Cuttack in the final match of the night.

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