Kolkata : Defending champion Mohun Bagan Super Giants defeat Mumbai City FC 2-1 to clinch maiden ISL League shield in Salt Lake Yuba Bharati Stadium, Kolkata.
In the 1st half, Liston Colaco opened the proceedings. His trademark effort from the left side of the box in the 28th minute of the match gave Mohun Bagan 1-0 lead.
8 minutes before the goal, he had missed nodding home a cross by Anirudh Thapa by a whisker. The latter received the ball outside the box on the right flank and sneaked in a smart delivery for Liston on the far post. The attacker headed the ball, but it failed to hit the target.
His efforts bore fruit thanks to a timely assist by Dimitrios Petratos, whose pass was received, held on, and hammered onto the top right corner effortlessly by the winger.
Though Mumbai showed dominance in 2nd half, it led to vacant spaces in their own half, which was adequately pounced upon by Petratos and Jason Cummings as the match entered its final minutes.
The attacking duo embarked on a lethal counter-attacking move before Petratos supplied the ball to Cummings on the right flank. The striker could have opted to play a one-two, but he instead trusted his scoring instincts to take on Mumbai City FC goalkeeper Phurba Lachenpa from a slightly challenging angle, before netting the ball to double the lead for Mohun Bagan .
Mumbai however, gave a bit finishing blow as 89th minute strike by Lallianzuala Chhangte meant that the game went right down the wire, with eight minutes of added time in the second half adding further excitement to this dramatic finish of the league stages.
However, the final whistle marked the victory of home side with roars of joy from home fans.
