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Bhubaneswar: Bengaluru FC and Mohun Bagan came back strongly in their respective games against Gokulam Kerala FC and Churchill Brothers to confirm their berths in the quarter-finals of the inaugural edition of Super Cup 2018 being played at Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar. Gokulam Kerala was first knocked out by Bengaluru FC by 2-1 goals while in the second game Mohun Bagan defeated Churchill Brothers with the same scoreline.
The second game started amid a decent crowd, most of them being supporters of Mohun Bagan from neighbouring West Bengal. Churchill Brothers tried to press hard during the earlier moments of the game but missed a goal scoring opportunity in the 14th minute when Dawda Ceesay's kick went just wide off the post.
Strong in their defense, Mohun Bagan dominated the possession in Churchill Brothers' half with Nikhil Kadam from right flank first trying to find Akram Moghrabi in the 21st minute and Arijit Bagui went for a long ranger left-footed attempt in the very next minute, both going in-vain.
Sk Faiaz's low cross from the right flank also went down begging in the 28th minute as Dipanda Dicka failed to deflect the ball at the far post.
In the 31st minute, Churchill Brothers' Nicholas Fernandes' wonderful run on the pitch ensured a good counter-attack for the Goan club which was converted into a goal by Willis Plaza and Churchill went ahead by opening their account.
Just before the half-time, Sk Faiaz was brought down by Osagie Monday inside the box and Mohun Bagan was awarded a penalty kick. Experienced Dicka first hit the ball straight to goalie Ricardo Cardozo but managed to score off the rebound. At the half-time, the scoreboard read 1-1 after this much-needed equaliser from the Kolkata-based club.
Mohun Bagan came into the second half with an attacking mindset and in the very second minute of the half Dicka created an easy chance for Akram Moghrabi whose shot went off target.
Again the Kolkata boys attacked in 56th, 60th and 65th minutes from inside the box but they failed to convert and missed every little chance they got.
However, Mohun Bagan got a free-kick in the 69th minute and Watson's long ball inside the box was brought down by a good header from Akram Moghrabi. Eventually Dicka finished it off in style and Mohun Bagan’s hard work in the second half paid off in form of a goal, 2-1 in favour of Bagan.
Mohun Bagan continued to attack in numbers while Churchill Brothers' coach Alfredo Fernandes kept on making desperate substitutions. They brought in Nigerian striker Francis in last 10 minutes but nothing really worked for the Goan unit.
Israil Gurung created a couple of chances during the last few moments of the game but poor finishing by the Churchill strikers denied the equaliser for them.
Mohun Bagan with this 2-1 win made it to the quarter-finals of Super Cup 2018 while Dipanda Dicka was awarded player of the match for his two crucial goals.
Earlier in the first game of the evening, ISL runners up Bengaluru FC defeated Gokulam Kerala FC by 2-1 goals and also qualified for the quarter-finals of Super Cup.
After trailing 1-0 in the first half, Bengaluru FC came back strongly in the second and Nicolas Fedor and Udanta Singh scored to take BFC into the next round.
Both the sides started off on an attacking note with BFC missing two back-to-back opportunities in 11th and 12th minute and skipper Sunil Chhetri's efforts went in vain. The Kerala boys had a chance in the 19th minute when Henry Kisekka's header went off target after captain Irshad's pass.
Ugandan forward Henry Kisekka soon made amends by opening the account for Kerala in the 33rd minute. Kisekka first went past Subhasis Bose and then calmly beat goalkeeper Gurpreet Sandhu to make it 1-0 for the I-League side. The scoreline remained as such at half-time as well.
In the second half Bengaluru FC tried to dominate the game but missed a couple of chances in the 49th and 57th minutes of the game.
With 20 minutes still left in the match, Udanta Singh helped Nicolas Fedor to score the equaliser for Bengaluru. Udanta passed it back to Nicolas inside the box and Venezuelan forward Nicolas deceived goalie Nikhil Barnard to ensure a comeback for BFC.
While the game seemed like going into the extra-time, Udanta Singh and Nicolas Fedor combined again and this time the Indian striker got the better of the opposition goalkeeper in the injury time of five minutes.
Bengaluru FC won the game by 2-1 goals and qualified for the next round while Udanta Singh bagged the Player of the Match award.
