Eleven-time winners Mohun Bagan edged out Dempo Sports Club 5-4 via sudden death to scrape into the final of the 28th Peerless Federation Cup in Kolkata on Wednesday.
Jose Barreto, Favio, Lal Kamal Bhowmick, Dulal Biswas and Dharamjit Singh scored, while Dipendu Biswas was the sole failure for the Kolkata giants in the penalty shoot-out that had to be resorted to as both sides finished 2-2 at the end of regulation time and half an hour of extra-time.
For Dempo, Beto, Climax Lawrence, Valerian Rebello and Nascimento Silveira found the target, but Joachmin Abranches and Jeri Zirsanga faltered.
The drama in the tie-break saw Bagan's Dipendu miss the second shot, but the two sides were even as Abranches blew over the third penalty for his side.
With the first set of penalties finishing 4-4, Zirsanga found the post to open sudden death on the wrong note, and Dharamjit converted the next penalty to seal Dempo's fate in the cracker of a semi-final at the Salt Lake stadium.
Earlier, in regulation time Dempo forgrd ahead in the 26th minute as Samir Naik essayed a cross from the left and Ranty Martins, despite being hemmed in by two Bagan defenders -- Dharamjit and Sanjib Maria, chested the ball down and lobbed a left footer that went in over custodian Sangram Mukherjee.
Bagan upped the ante in the second session, and in the 50th minute the Goans had a close shave as Dominque Noronha retrieved the ball from the goalline. But the Kolkata club maintained the pressure and drew level in the 57th minute.
Barreto did the spadework from the right and fed Bhutia, who netted a low flying header from top of the 18-yard box.
With the match turning tight, the tension got into the players and there was soon lot of frayed tempers. As things took a nasty turn with Bagan's Bhutia and Lalawmpuiya coming to blows with Ranty, play had to be halted for four minutes from the stroke of an hour.
Ranty and Lalawmpuiya were shown red cards, reducing both the teams to ten men.
Dempo regained the lead in the 75th minute, thanks to a brilliant display from Beto. The Brazilian responded to an incisive free-kick from Samir Naik in style, and finished with a left-footer on the half turn to land the ball into the corner of the net.
A silence descended on the stadium with nearly 50,000 Bagan supporters seeming to accept Bagan's impending exit.
However, Bhutia had other ideas. Two minutes from regulation time, a free-kick from Fabio saw Eduardo come out with a shot and Dempo custodian Satish Kumar managed to punch the ball. But Bhutia came from nowhere and swooped on the ball to tap home.
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