East Bengal Secures Derby Victory, Advances to Kalinga Super Cup Semifinals

East Bengal defeated their bitter rivals Mohun Bagan Super Giant in their second derby victory of the season on Friday at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. East Bengal advanced quickly to the Kalinga Super Cup semifinals. Cleiton Silva led from the front.

Silva, the captain of East Bengal, scored twice, while Nandhakumar Sekar also registered a run. Early in the first half, Mohun Bagan had taken the lead thanks to Hector Yuste.

As a result, East Bengal won all three of their group matches, placing them atop the standings with nine points. With two victories and a defeat in their three games, Bagan was forced to make do with sixth place.

In a meaningless encounter earlier, Sreenidi Deccan FC beat Hyderabad FC 4-1.

Mohun Bagan and East Bengal both had six points at the beginning of the game and the same goal differential of +2. Nevertheless, since they scored more goals than Mohun Bagan, East Bengal had a little advantage in the standings.

With the winners of the group moving on to the semi-finals, Bagan knew exactly what they needed to win in order to go on to the next round. They took an assertive posture right away, demonstrating their knowledge of the situation.

The attackers for Bagan made a concerted effort to breach the East Bengal defense, attempting to score points with deft passes and through balls.

They also made use of the whole field in an effort to weaken East Bengal's defense and open up areas for offensive plays. This resulted in several assaults and a large amount of set-pieces over the first twenty minutes. In the 19th minute, a breakthrough was ultimately made as a consequence of this pressure. After a well performed low corner kick by Dimitros Petratos, Hector Yuste flicked the ball in at the near post to score.

East Bengal did not give up even after giving up the goal. Rather, they answered in style. East Bengal's efforts were rewarded in the 24th minute, after a 21st-minute attempt by Souvik Chakraborty to strike the crosspiece.

After Mohammed Rakip's throw-in set up the goal, chaos broke out outside the Bagan penalty area.

After Silva grabbed a loose ball, he hit a powerful shot that went under Bagan goalkeeper Arsh Anwer Shaikh's arm and settled into the net.

Both sides were playing close games as the score was knotted at 1. Dramatic play ended the first half when Bagan's winger Kiyan Nassiri's effort hit Hijazi Maher's hand inside the East Bengal area, earning Bagan a penalty.

Dimitros Petratos took the penalty kick duty and scored, but his goal was disallowed for too early encroachment into the area by teammates Hugo Boumous and Raj Basfore.

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