Super Cup: East Bengal, Hyderabad FC knocked out; Odisha qualify for semifinals

East Bengal were held for a 2-2 draw by Aizawl FC as the Kolkata giants squandered a two-goal lead yet again. Naorem Mahesh Singh and Sumeet Passi put the Red and Golds in front, but two goals from Aizawl FC in quick succession knocked the Kolkata club out of the competition.

Meanwhile, in the evening game’s Odisha rallied from 0-1 down to beat Hyderabad 2-1 as Diego Mauricio scored the equaliser and assisted the winning goal in the dying minutes to seal the semis berth. Odisha needed a draw to confirm semis berth but they emerged outright winner as midfielder Victor Rodriguez tapped in the winner from close range.

In the first match of the day, East Bengal FC head coach Stephen Constantine made several changes to the starting XI, no doubt in an attempt to rack up a big win in their final group game. Sumeet Passi, Tuhin Das, Charalambos Kyriacou were all named on the team sheet for East Bengal.

Naorem Mahesh Singh was the driving force of East Bengal’s attack for the majority of the match and it was him who found the opener in the 17th minute.

Brilliantly played through by Cleiton Silva, Mahesh cut inside the box before crossing the ball to the centre of the area. His cross caught a wicked deflection though, ending up in the Aizawl goal.

Moments later, midfielder Mobashir Rahman had a golden opportunity to extend the lead. He received a loose ball just outside the edge of the box but ended up shooting over the crossbar.

Five minutes after the opener, East Bengal doubled their lead. From a VP Suhair cross, Sumeet Passi rose highest to head it into an empty net after Aizawl FC goalkeeper Vanlalhriatpuia got his angles wrong in an attempt to punch the ball clear.

At the time, a rout looked in the offing. Right before half time though, Aizawl pulled one back against the run of play.

Defender Akito Saito ran upfield before releasing a through pass to David Lalhlansanga. David made the most of the pass and took a shot from a narrow angle. Kamaljit saved the initial attempt but the rebound fell straight to Lalhruaitluanga, who kept his composure to pull one back.

If that wasn’t enough, minutes after the restart Aizawl drew level, David scoring the equaliser.

With inputs from PTI