Red & Gold Rise! East Bengal FC March into Semis with Derby Joy! Diamantakos Shines in the “Boro Match”.
Kolkata, August 17: The Kolkata Derby once again lit up the Durand Cup stage, Emami East Bengal FC defeated Mohun Bagan SG 2-1 in the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan, knocking their arch-rivals out of the tournament. With this result, East Bengal marched into the semifinals, where they will face Diamond Harbour FC.
FIRST HALF SCENARIO:
The Kolkata Derby in the 134 edition of the Durand Cup kicked off with high intensity as both sides looked to seize control early. In the 17th minute, East Bengal were forced into an early change as Hamid Ahdad sub off with what looked like a cramp, making way for Diamantakos.
At the 25th minute, Tom Aldred brought down Mahesh just outside the box. East Bengal earned a freekick, but Miguel’s effort went over the crossbar, failing to trouble the Bagan defence.
In the 33rd minute, Mahesh slipped a clever through ball to Diamantakos, who slotted it into the net. However, the celebrations were cut short as the striker was flagged offside and the goal was disallowed.
Just three minutes later, in the 36th minute, the breakthrough came. Bipin Singh was fouled by Ashish Rai inside the left side of the box, which earned a penalty for the Red And Gold, Diamantakos stepped up to convert the penalty kick, putting East Bengal ahead 1-0.
Mohun Bagan SG tried to respond before the break, with Apuia’s long-range attempt in the 45+4’ minute missing the target, and this was their first shots of the half, the first half saw East Bengal’s dominance, ending with leading 1-0.
SECOND HALF SCENARIO:
The second half started with East Bengal looking sharp, and they soon doubled their lead. In the 52nd minute, Miguel passed the ball to Mahesh, who sent it for Diamantakos. The striker finished calmly inside the box to make it 2-0 for East Bengal.
Mohun Bagan SG tried to respond. In the 58th minute, Liston Colaco earned a freekick from the left, deliverd the ball inside the box, Maclaren in between gathering capitalised of it, but his attempt was cleared off the line by Kevin Sibille.
The Mariners finally got back into the game 68th minute. From a corner, Liston played the ball short to Anirudh Thapa, whose long-range strike towards the net, found the net, reducing the score to 1-2. After Thapa reduced the score gap Mohun Bagan SG seemed more attacking and rythimic.
However, in stoppage time, East Bengal almost sealed the win with another effort. Miguel’s shot from the left edge of the six yards box was saved by Vishal Kaith, and before a rebound chance could fall, Abhisekh Tekcham cleared the threat from inside the box. The game ended soon after, with East Bengal securing a 2-1 derby win over Mohun Bagan SG in the ‘Boro Match’.
Last time East Bengal FC won the senior team derby was in the 2023-24 season in the Super Cup, where, just like this time, they knocked out Mohun Bagan SG. From the very start, they displayed rhythmic football with all their new foreign players. The evening’s winning brace was scored by Diamantakos, a player the Red and Gold fans had been frustrated with due to his past performances. But with this performance and his goals, Diamantakos lifted the “Moshal” high and proved that the flame is still burning.
On the other side, Mohun Bagan SG’s attacking line was asleep. Apart from the goal and a few scattered attacks, they posed no threat to their opponents. Despite dominating the group stage to qualify for the quarterfinals, with this defeat Mohun Bagan SG wrapped up their Durand Cup 2025 campaign here.
The semifinal now awaits another much awaited Kolkata clash, as Diamond Harbour FC beat Jamshedpur FC to qualify. With this derby win, East Bengal FC will face them in the semifinal on 20th August.
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