East Bengal win Durand Cup

East Bengal beat Mohun Bagan 2-1 to win the 117th Durand Cup football tournament in Delhi on Wednesday.

Chandas Das scored both the goals for the winners, who led 1-0 at half-time.

Das scored in the 24th minute from a penalty and then clinched the issue in the 92nd minute after receiving a pass from Climax Lawrence.

Bagan got their goal in fortuitous circumstances when a free-kick from Noel Wilson in the 76th minute was headed into their own goal by defender Douglas D'Silva Santos.

The triumph put East Bengal alongside Bagan with 16 Durand Cup wins. The two sides are also level as runners-up, losing in the final 10 times.

The winners got a purse of Rs 500,000 while the losers got Rs 250,000.

East Bengal took the lead when referee P K Bose awarded a penalty after Basudeb Mondal fouled Alvito D'Cunha inside the box. Das made no mistake, placing to the right of the Bagan goalkeeper.

Bagan equalised in the 76th minute after dominating play for long periods, when East Bengal's Brazilian defender Santos accidentally headed the ball into his own goal following a free-kick by Noel Wilson from near the half line.

Das then came up with a beauty in the dying moments, volleying home a nice square pass from Lawrence at the top end of the box after Nigerian forward Earnest Jeremiah had done the spadework.