Bhutia blaze leaves Dempo in the cold

Kolkata, Dec 27 (UNI) Baichung Bhutia showed why he is still the most valuable player around even after a decade and half as he helped Mohun Bagan come back twice from behind and eventually defeat Dempo Sports Club in the penalty-shootouts to reach the final of the 28th Federation Cup at the Salt Lake stadium here today.

In the beginning though, Mohun Bagan were nothing short of lackluster. They gave too much room to the likes of Ranty Martins and Roberto Silva Beto and eventually paid the price when Martins brilliantly chest trapped a Samir Naik lob and volleyed it to perfection in the 27th minute. That proved to be a wake up call for the Kolkata giants as they looked a different team in the second half. They eventually equalised courtesy a diving header by Bhutia off a Llkamal Bhowmik cross in the 57th minute.

After a foul on Jose Ramarez Barreto, substitute Lalawmpuia lost his cool and got into a brawl with Martins. The situation went out of hand and even though Lalawmpuia left the ground after being sent off immediately, Martins lost the marbles. He had to eventually taken away from the ground by the support staff.

A defensive error by Edurado enabled Beto to net the second for his team in the 75th minute from a Samir Naik freekick. It did look like the green-and-maroon brigade are going to be knocked out of the tournament but Bhutia certainly had other plans in mind. Dharamjit Singh's shot was flicked by Edurado but was blocked by custodian Satish Kumar, Bhutia couldn't have been at a better place to put the ball at the back of the net off the rebound in the 88 th minute.

As the match went to the extra time, it was evident from the body language of both the teams that they would settle for the tie-breakers. Mohun Bagan held their nerves as Barreto, Fabio, Lalkamal, Dulal Biswas and Dharamjit made no mistakes from the spot to take their team to the final, while Beto, Climax Lawrance, Valeriaqnd Rebglo and Nascimento Silvgira did find the back of the net, Joaquim Abranches and Jerry Zirsanga failed to score.

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