- By Himanshu Badola
- Sat, 12 Aug 2023 08:38 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Nandhakumar Sekar smashed a fiery left-footer goal to end East Bengal's 1658-day derby jinx as the red-and-gold brigade beat arch-rivals Mohun Bagan 1-0 in a Durand Cup match here on Saturday.
The 60th minute also put Mohun Bagan's quarter-finals entry on hold as East Bengal can pip them to a last-eight spot if they happen to win against Punjab FC in their last group league encounter on Wednesday.
Mohun Bagan started the game aggressively as they tried their best in keeping possession as their crucial game plan. East Bengal, on the other hand, were happy to sit back and rely on counters.
East Bengal got a golden opportunity in the 17th minute. Asish Rai willed a ball to go out as Mahesh Singh contested. He poked it back at the feet of Javier Siverio, who almost turned the ball into the back of the net.
After the restart, the tackles became more and more attacking, on their opponents. In the 51st minute, Manvir Singh was tackled down to the ground by Souvik Chakrabarti and deservedly was booked by the referee.
The match also progressively turned ugly as the tackles were tougher and players clashed on and off the ball in play.
With the timer showing 90, the rain blanketed the field in a white sheet. When the final whistle blew the East Bengal players started celebrating in joy as an unthinkable thing, at least in recent memory, had happened.
The win for East Bengal ended defending ISL champions Mohun Bagan's dominance that stretched for more than four years and six months.
East Bengal had last won against Mohun Bagan, a 2-0 result, way back on January 27, 2019, in the I-League.