BHUBANESWAR: In a nail-biting final match, an extra-time goal by Cleiton in the 111th minute powered East Bengal to edge out defending champion Odisha FC by 3-2 goals to emerge as the champion of the Kalinga Super Cup here at Kalinga Stadium on Sunday.
The match ended in a 2-2 goals draw in regulation time. The match moved to a 30-minute extra-time. The half-time of the extra time could not produce any goal by both the teams. During extra time, in the 96th min Bengal's Sovik Chakraborty was sent to the dugout, now both came down to 10 members. Cleiton scored the winning goal for Bengal in the second half of the extra-time and East Bengal FC emerged champion.
Earlier, East Bengal was clear about their intentions by attacking from both flanks. As the game progressed the players were more physical on the ground. Odisha FC forward Roy Krishna got the first card of the match in the 31st minute.
It was a foul to Ahmed Jahouh and he took the free kick from the half of the field, ball was received by Roy Krishna inside the box, and he pushed the ball to Diageo who opened the account for Odisha FC in the 39th minute.
After the change of sides, East Bengal started the second half in flying colours. Nandha Kumar took the ball from half of the pitch and crossed passed the Odisha defenders and also the goalkeeper to score the equaliser in the 52nd minute. However, Borja was pulled down by the Odisha players and East Bengal got the penalty kick and Crespo made it 2-1 in the 62nd minute.
In a most tragic incident, OFC skipper Serigne got a red card in the 67th minute and the home team was forced to play with ten players. The 10-man Odisha FC team showed a brave heart fight , not only restricting Bengal to dominate them but also managing to nail the equaliser in the final minute of the second half extra time.
Seven minutes of injury time was added to the second-half. In the final minute, Diageo was pulled down by the Bengal goalkeeper and earned a penalty kick for Odisha. Jahouh scored the equaliser.