Riding on Trinidadian Marcus Joseph’s brace, Gokulam Kerala FC outplayed Mohun Bagan 2-1 and lifted the 129th Durand Cup in their debut appearance after a thrilling final at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan, Salt Lake on Saturday.
Joseph continued his goalscoring spree to help a Kerala outfit win the oldest competition in Asia for the first time since FC Kochin won it 22 years ago. The striker in the 45+1st minute converted a penalty to give Gokulam Kerala the lead, and in the 51st minute, he sealed the win for his side with a menacing left-footer.
City soccer giants Mohun Bagan, who last won the Durand Cup in 2000, have now lost in three finals on the trot (2004, 2009, 2019). It was Salva Chamorro in the 64th minute who scored a consolation goal for the Mariners.
It was tense in the final quarter as the hosts searched for an equaliser and even saw Gokulam go down to 10-men when Jestin George was shown a second yellow card for a foul on Lalchhawnkima in the 87th minute.
Mohun Bagan had a lot of chances in both the halves but failed to convert them. Meanwhile, Gokulam Kerala held on after Joseph gave them the lead and added to his tally in the second-half.
Mohun Bagan’s best chance to draw level came three minutes after Chamorro scored but Henry Kisekka failed to convert a brilliant cross.
(With inputs from IANS)