Coutinho’s golden touch crowns Salgaocar

Salgaocar’s gameplan was simple: pack the defence and let Coutinho do the work up front. The ploy worked perfectly as the Salgaocar defenders kept Bhaichung Bhutia and Somatai Saiza in check. Both were closely marked.

Salgaocar’s height advantage was put to good use as defenders Franky Bareto, Francis Coelho and Roberto Fernandes did not allow any of the aerial balls to get past them. Goalkeeper Juje Siddi too was near perfect today, foiling many an East Bengal attempt, particularly in the second half.

The Goan side started with the 4-3-3 formation, forward Jules Albert playing a little withdrawn and Savio Medeira doing the scheming as usual. They started breaching the East Bengal defence quite early and appeared more comfortable on the wet ground than their rivals.

There was an air of over confidence in the East Bengal camp too. After all, not many would play short diagonal passes close to their box with Bruno Coutinho and Jude Odegah lurking near by. There was always a chance any of the two Salgaocar forwards would intercept the passes.

The first goal did come from a mistake in the defence. Left back Amitava Chanda messed up with a clearance in the 18th minute, to put the ball at unmarked Coutinho’s feet. The forward passed on to Odegah at the top of the box. The Nigerian, instead of making an attempt at the goal, back-passed to Coutinho, whose thundering right-footer entered the net.

The goal spurred Salgoacar into action and they started making organised attacks into the rival half. They managed to breach the East Bengal defence a number of times, but found goalkeeper Azande Abulista in the way. In the 44th minute, Odegah got past Samuel Omollo and had an empty goal in front. However, acrobatic Azande managed to put himself in between.

Omollo, the tallest among East Bengal, was promoted to the attacking zone in the second half. With the ground wet and slow, East Bengal knew they had to try for the equaliser through an aerial ball.

Omollo was the best bet as he was the only one who could rise above the tall Salgaocar defenders. The move worked as Omollo’s presence gave East Bengal an edge in the attack. Playing with more purpose, the local side was breaking the Salgaocar defence often, only to run into goalkeeper Siddi.

Finally, it was Omollo’s head which gave East Bengal the equaliser in the 83rd minute. Bhutia rose for a header inside the six-yard box, but Roberto Fernandes got to the ball first. Bhutia was quick to tap the ball and pass it to Omollo, whose header managed to beat Siddi.

The goal could elongate the match by two minutes only. Inexplicably, Banerjee persisted with Omollo in the attacking zone in the extra-time too. Bringing him to the back in the do-or-die situation might have helped as Coutinho proved in the second minute.

Jules Alberto took a shot at the goal after playing a wall pass with Gasper Crasto. Goalkeeper Azanade palmed it away, but only as far as Savio Medeira some 30 yards away. Medeira passed to an unmarked Coutinho, whose bullet-like shot pierced Azande’s defence.

It was a golden goal and celebration time for Salgaocar amid the sound of silence in the packed stand.