Kolkata: Omitted from the list of India probables by new coach Manolo Marquez, Vishal Kaith turned tie-breaker hero for the second time in the 133rd Durand Cup, his two saves in the shootout taking defending champions Mohun Bagan to the final. But it is to Anirudh Thapa that Mohun Bagan will have to thank for stretching the semi-final against Bengaluru FC that far, by producing an equaliser out of nowhere to ensure regulation time ended 2-2 at Salt Lake stadium here on Tuesday.
It was at the Durand Cup last year, his first competitive outing for Mohun Bagan, that Thapa had hoped to make an impact after his big-ticket, long-term move from Chennaiyin FC. He finished with a red card in the final against East Bengal. Deployed in a more defensive role than he was used, Thapa had an iffy season with two goals and zero assists from 34 matches. A season that began with an error in the Durand Cup group league stage that East Bengal had scored from.
On Wednesday, with Mohun Bagan trailing 1-2 and five minutes of regulation time remaining, Thapa produced a shot that should be talked about irrespective of how 2024-25 goes for the attacking midfielder. Lalengmawia Ralte, among Mohun Bagan’s bank-breaking signings this term reportedly after a transfer fee of over ₹1.5 crore to Mumbai City FC, alongside him means Thapa can now play closer to the opposition goal. He was around 20 yards from the Gurpreet Singh Sandhu’s goal when, off a Mohun Bagan corner-kick, the ball came to him. Thapa let fly a first-timer which flew through a thicket of legs, because of which Sandhu may have seen the ball late, and helped Mohun Bagan stay alive in a match they had trailed 0-2 by the 54th minute.
Sunil Chhetri, starting for the first time in the season-opener and at the venue where he played his last match for India, had made it 1-0 in the 43rd minute from the penalty spot after referee Venkatesh R adjudged Liston Colaco had fouled Vinith Venkatesh. Clear on goal after Mohun Bagan lost possession, Chhetri had been denied by Alberto Rodriguez before Kaith stopped Alberto Noguera, earlier but with characteristic elan he converted the penalty.
Venkatesh could have made it 2-0 in the 48th minute but shanked his shot after Suresh Wangjam found the wide right player free inside the Mohun Bagan penalty box. He did that soon after by tapping into an empty net after a horrendous backpass by Ralte had drawn Kaith out.
Mohun Bagan had ended the first half with Colaco and Alberto Rodriguez hitting the upright and Jason Cummings’s first-time side-volley drawing a superb save from Sandhu and yet they were trailing 0-2.
On the hour mark, Bengaluru FC coach Gerard Zaragoza decided that Chhetri and Jorge Pereyra Diaz’s race had been run. By then, Mohun Bagan had replaced central defender Thomas Aldred with full back Ashish Rai and Sahal Abdul Samad with Greg Stewart. Maybe because he had not yet got into the tempo of the game, maybe because it is early in the season, Sandhu shining a shot gave Stewart a free pass that the Indian Super League star headed out.
This was in the 60th minute by when Bengaluru FC were looking to batten the hatches. Given Mohun Bagan’s attacking arsenal that would always take some doing. Manvir Singh, who had started as a right wing back, was between two central defenders when Rahul Bheke pulled his shirt. Dimitrios Petratos, who had converted two penalties in regulation time against Bengaluru FC in the 2023-24 ISL final, made it 1-2 in the 69th.
Barring a snap header by Edgar Mendez which fetched a reflex save from Kaith, traffic flowed in the other direction for the rest of the time. That Mohun Bagan didn’t trouble Sandhu till Thapa’s moment of magic will give coach Jose Molina lot to ponder over. As will gaps opening up in the defence where skipper Subhasish Bose had to be replaced in the 26th minute because of knee injury.
Cummings, Manvir Singh, Colaco and Petratos had scored from the penalty spot – this edition has no provision for extra-time – when Halicharan Narzary’s shot was saved by Kaith going the right way. Mendez, Bheke and Pedro Capo had converted their shots but Bengaluru FC now trailed 3-4. Sandhu added to the drama by using his massive frame to get a hand to Stewart’s kick, Mohun Bagan’s fifth, but then Kaith guessed right again to deny Aleksander Jovanovic. Mohun Bagan will play Northeast United in the final here on Saturday.