East Bengal reaches Durand Cup final after 19 years after 5-3 win on penalties against NorthEast
The HinduNandhakumar Sekar was the saviour once more as Emami East Bengal came back from the brink of defeat to beat 10-man NorthEast United FC 5-3 via a penalty shoot-out in the first semifinal of the 132nd Durand Cup at the Salt Lake Stadium here on Tuesday. NEUFC vs EBFC - MATCH HIGHLIGHTS East Bengal reduced the lead through Naorem Mahesh Singh, after his attempt on goal was deflected in by Soraisham Dinesh Singh in the 77th minute before Nandhakumar nodded home the equaliser in the seventh minute of injury time. With extra time done away with in the tournament regulations, East Bengal scored all the attempts as Cleiton Silva, Saul Crespo, Borja Herrera, Naorem Mahesh Singh and Nandhakumar found the target in the shoot-out. The change of ends continued to see the Highlanders maintain their hold on the action and they doubled the lead in the 57th minute when Phalguni Singh showed his finishing ability with a nicely placed angular attempt that beat the East Bengal goalkeeper Prabhsukhan Singh Gill at the far post.