Kolkata, April 12 (IANS) Jamie Maclaren scored an extra-time winner as Mohun Bagan Super Giant (MBSG) won the Indian Super League (ISL) 2024-25 Cup after a 2-1 victory against Bengaluru FC at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan Stadium here on Saturday.
MBSG came from behind after trailing by a goal to successfully cap off the League Double, having already clinched the ISL Shield this season, and have concluded the current campaign unbeaten at their home. They are just the second team after Mumbai City FC (2020-21) to win the League Shield and the ISL Cup in the same season.
MBSG banked on the crowd support to make a defining start to the game, with Maclaren coming close with a right-footed shot from the same side of the box, which was saved in the bottom left corner by Gurpreet Singh Sandhu in the ninth minute.
They kept functioning dynamically in tandem, as Anirudh Thapa, usually pulling the strings at the centre, made an inroad into the 18-yard area and hastened towards a right-footed shot from the left side of the box that was blocked in time.
The Blues responded with a flurry of opportunities around the 20th-minute mark, with Alberto Noguera stretching the MBSG defence wide and delivering a cross for Sunil Chhetri that the forward couldn’t capitalise upon. A subsequent headed effort from Edgar Mendez was saved at the centre of the goal by Vishal Kaith to keep the score level.
Bengaluru FC bagged the breakthrough in the 49th minute, courtesy of an own goal by defender Alberto Rodriguez. Williams was afforded ample space on the right flank, and he optimised it with a whipping cross directed for Mendez inside the box.
Subhasish Bose, who was marking Williams, could not close down his target. Rodriguez attempted to clear the ball but ended up hammering it into the back of the net under pressure.
Seven minutes later, Bose tried to make up for the previous endeavour by recovering possession near the halfway mark and hurling a delivery that met Jason Cummings just outside the penalty area. The striker did well to control the ball and unleashed a left-footed effort that required a fully stretched dive from Sandhu to stop the scores from equalising.
However, MBSG earned a reprieve in the form of a penalty due to a handball by Chinglensana Singh. In the 72nd minute, Cummings stepped up for spot-kick duties and effortlessly converted the opportunity by caressing the ball into the bottom left corner with his left foot to bring the contest back on level terms.
As the game entered the added time, Kaith sent in a long ball that Ashique Kuruniyan tried to hit home, albeit from a difficult angle on the left, but to no avail. Greg Stewart’s lateral ball for Tom Aldred was headed from the left side of the six-yard box by the defender, but it missed the target to the right.
The match entered extra time, and it did not take Maclaren too long to finally carve an impact in the grand finale. With MBSG exerting numbers ahead, the Bengaluru FC defence consequently slipped into a spot of bother and Maclaren’s incisive instinct tapped upon that with a fierce effort from inside the box as soon as he gained possession to unsettle Sandhu and hit the centre of the net in the 96th minute, sealing a memorable campaign for the Kolkata-based club.
–IANS
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