By Rajarshi Chakrabarty
Hero Super Cup witnessed the exit of the second north-eastern club in less than a week after Shillong Lajong were inflicted a 3-1 defeat in the quarter-final by a clinical Mohun Bagan on Wednesday at the Kalinga Stadium.
A goal each from Sheikh Faiaz, Nikhil Kadam and an own goal from Samuel Doe completed Lajong’s misery as they managed one consolation goal from Abdoulaye Koffi.
Mohun Bagan opened the scoring early on the 12th minute when Dicka chipped the ball into the box to Sheikh Faiaz who was swarmed by Lajong defenders but still managed to skillfully turn the ball into the back of the net despite being floored on the pitch as Lajong defenders failed to deal with the ball.
Mohun Bagan doubled their lead in the 22nd minute when Samuel Doe’s headed clearance landed at the feet of Nikhil Kadam who unleashed a venomous left-footed curler that landed inside the goal kissing inside of the bar. Referee Santosh Kumar awarded the goal to Mohun Bagan after consulting with the linesman as Mohun Bagan sat pretty on a comfortable 2-0 lead.
Shillong Lajong had their chance to make a comeback into the game when they were awarded a penalty in the 25th minute after Samuel was brought down inside the box was Kingshuk Debnath.
The Lajong skipper himself stepped up to take the spot kick but his shot was saved by Shilton Paul but Lajong hit back almost immediately after Abdoulaye Koffi headed-in from inside the box taking advantage of some indecisive defending from Mohun Bagan, to make it 2-1 on the 25th minute.
The game was put beyond contention in the 60th minute when right back Arijit Bagui delivered a long ball into the box as both Akram Moghrabi and Samuel Doe dived to reach to the ball. The ball, unfortunately, took the touch of Doe’s intended headed clearance to land at the back of the net.
With a comfortable 3-1 win the Mariners sailed into the Semi-Final and are due to meet the winner between Bengaluru FC and NEROCA FC.