NorthEast United won the first trophy in their short history with a thrilling comeback-and-penalty-shootout defeat of giants Mohun Bagan in the 2024 Durand Cup final.
After a first half which was dominated by Mohun Bagan, NorthEast United coach Juan Pedro Benali rung in the changes, bringing on Guillermo Fernandez and it necessitated a tactical shift that changed the game altogether. Guillermo and strike partner Alaeddine Ajaraie (who shifted to the left) scored the goals that pushed the scores level and the game into penalties.
Initially, a superb one-touch, fast-passing from back to front had seen Bagan win a penalty early on after Sahal Abdul Samad was bundled down in the box. Up stepped Jason Cummings and he made no mistake. There were sparks of innovation from MS Jithin - arguably the player of the tournament (and officially recognized by the Durand Cup organisers after the final as MVP) - but Bagan kept the underdogs at bay. They then added a flourish to their dominance with another slick move. A lovely Anirudh Thapa pass around the corner was taken on by Liston Colaco, who raced through the entire NorthEast half before cutting in, and pulling it back to an unmarked Sahal - who stroked home a volley from close range.
In the second half, Jithin shifted from left to right, Ajaraie went left and with Guillermo's movement and massive physical presence causing all sorts of bother, NorthEast started dominating. The first goal came out of nowhere - Jithin winning a second ball, drawing two defenders and poking it to Ajaraie, who finished superbly from the edge of the box. Two minutes later, they'd drawn level, Ajaraie turning provider to find Guillermo at the far post - and the big striker volleyed home sensationally from a tight angle.
NorthEast kept pushing for the lead, and were the better side throughout the second half, but Bagan held firm to take the game to pens.
This is where Gurmeet Singh came into his own, and a side that had not lost their four previous shootouts lost the fifth. He saved off Liston Colaco and Subasish Bose to give NorthEast a 4-3 win on penalties.
You can relive the game as it happened in our live blog below: