Mahindra United of Mumbai retained the IFA Shield title defeating favourite Santos FC of South Africa 3-1 in an exciting final of the tournament at Barasat Stadium in Kolkata on Friday night.
Mahindra forged ahead in the 9th minute through their Nigerian striker Yakubu, who shot home cashing in on a pass from forward Pierre, who hails from Ivory Coast in Africa.
Yakubu struck six minutes later, heading home a cross by Pierre.
Conceding two early goals broke the rhythm of the South Africa team.
However, after the lemon break, the African team started with renewed vigour and reduced the margin in the 46th minute through Gregory Roels, who beautifully headed in a free-kick taken by Leon Gobloza.
Inspired by the reducer, Santos made a few more good moves, but failed to break the solid Mahindra defence.
The Mumbai outfit finally made sure of the victory when Sushil Singh struck home three minutes before close, again from a pass by Pierre, who played a crucial role in Mahindra's win.
It also was a sweet revenge for Mahindra United, which had lost to Santos 0-2 in the group league.
The deep defence of Mahindra, for whom this was their first major trophy this season, put up a good performance and their midfielders too fed their forwards with nice passes and at the same time foiling rival attacks.
The Mumbai outfit forced their first goalbound move in the fifth minute, but Yakubu failed to cash in on the pass given by Steven Dias.
Yakubu, however, made amends for his lapse soon and struck home four minutes later. After interrupting a shot of Santos keeper, Pierre made a one-two with Yakubu and the latter finished the move with a neat shot (1-0).
Mahindra upped the ante and increased their lead six minutes later by the same combination, with Yakubu heading home a Pierre center (2-0).
Santos managed to make a couple of moves in the first half but failed to break the last hurdle.
But the beginning of second half saw Santos starting with renewed vigour and going all out for a goal, which they earned in the 46th minute. Following a free kick taken by Leon Godloza, Gregory Roelf beautifully headed home (2-1).
The South African side then made a series of moves but without much success as their frontliners failed to make the finishing touches.
Mahindra cemented their victory when striker Sushil Kumar Singh, who substituted Manjit Singh, shot home off a Pierre pass five minutes before the close (3-1).
Pierre was adjudged Man of the Match as he paved the way for all the three goals scored by his side.
Mahindra became richer by Rs 7.5 lakhs while Santos got Rs 5 lakh, which was the runners-up purse.
© 2024 Rediff.com -