Dempo beats East Bengal to Super Cup

Gurgaon: Dempo Sports Club added the only missing trophy — Super Cup — to their impressive cabinet when they beat East Bengal by a solitary goal on Wednesday.

With this, Dempo ended the season on a highly successful note. Apart from the I-League and the Super Cup, the Goans also won the Goa Professional League title and the Durand Cup in Delhi.

The Goans, however, were distinctly lucky to win at the Devi Lal Stadium here. While East Bengal dominated the proceedings, Dempo converted the only positive chance that came their way to bag the Cup and a cash award of Rs 10lakh.

The goal came against the run of play. The East Bengal defence stood firm throughout the outing but faltered in the 71st minute to concede the goal. It allowed Dempo’s Brazilian midfielder Beto to step into the box and take a shy at the goal.

Custodian Subrata Paul dived to his right to palm away the ball but Nigerian striker Edeh Chidi tapped in the rebound. Going by the trend of the match, East Bengal should have won it easily. Led by Rahim Nabi, who had an impressive day in the office, the Calcutta team tormented the Dempo defence time and again but paid the penalty for missing too many cha- nces.

Brazilian striker Edmilson was the biggest culprit. He wasted at least four clear opportunities. In the 55th minute, Nabi provided him with a gem of a pass but all that Edmilson could do was to hit the post.

“I have nothing to say,” said a disappointed East Bengal coach Aloke Mukherjee after the match. “You cannot expect to win a match after missing so many chances.”