Mohun Bagan’s passage to the semi-finals of the Durand Cup at the Ambedkar Stadium on Friday.
Playing his second match of the season, the Brazilian came up with two magical strikes in the first 15 minutes as Mohun Bagan defeated JCT, Phagwara, 2-0 to top Group II with six points and set up a semi-final clash with holders Mahindra United on Sunday.
In the first semi-final, Goa giants Churchill Brothers and Dempo Sports Club will meet each other.
It was a typical veni vidi vici performance by Barreto. Once his scoring job was over, the Brazilian was quickly taken off by the Mohun Bagan coach. He was replaced by Branco Cardozo.
As Barreto walked off the pitch, the crowd broke into a spontaneous applause. He is the only member of the Bagan squad that won the Durand Cup in 2001, Bagan’s last Durand Cup title so far.
The match was won and lost in the first 15 minutes. Barreto opened scoring in the fourth minute when he came from behind to trap the ball inside the box and beat the goalkeeper.
The second goal was even more spectacular. Latching on to a header by Chidi that fooled the defence, the Brazilian rushed in, beat the marker and then sent the ball in with a clever shot.
The decision to replace Barreto is debatable. Once he went off, JCT took charge of the match. They attacked relentlessly and were unlucky not to find the target.
Bagan have themselves to blame for inviting pressure, despite taking a 2-0 lead so early in the match.
The Calcutta team got a golden chance to increase the lead when their Nigerian striker Edeh Chidi was brought down inside the box by Sarabjeet Singh. James Singh’s spot-kick hit the post before it was parried away by JCT goalkeeper Karanjit Singh.
Despite JCT’s apparent domination in the midfield, Chidi should have scored twice in the second half. On the second occasion, seasoned Daljit Singh made a goalline save.
At the other end, Sangram Mukherjee was impeccable under the bar. His best came in the first half when he leaped high to save a Baldeep Singh header that looked certain to go in.
Teams
Mohun Bagan: Sangram Mukherjee; Surkumar Singh, Deepak Mondal, Rakesh Masih and Mohanraj; James Singh, Micky Fernandes, Kulothungan (Subhakumar, 69) and Snehasis Chakrabarty (Shantakumar, 72); Edeh Chidi and Jose Barreto (Branco Cardozo, 20).
JCT: Karanjit Singh; Daljit Singh, Sarabjeet Singh, Gurwinder Singh and Jaspal Singh; Baldeep Singh, Penn Orji, Jagpreet Singh (Baljit Sr., 78) and Sakatar Singh (Lalchhuanmawia, 74); Balwant Singh and Baljit Sahni (Balraj Singh, 71).
Referee: PK Bose.
Earlier in the day, East Bengal went down 2-0 to Mahindra United, who will meet Mohun Bagan in the Semis.
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