FC Goa vs Mohun Bagan: Mariners reach Durand Cup Final, set up thrilling Kolkata Derby

Mohun Bagan Super Giant defeated FC Goa 2-1 to advance to the 2023 Durand Cup final. Armando Sadiku and Jason Cummings led the Mariners to victory as they prepare to face archrivals East Bengal in the Kolkata Derby. Despite gaining an early lead through Noah Sadaoui, Manolo Marquez’s team was defeated by a small margin.

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FC Goa vs Mohun Bagan Super Giant Starting XI:

FC Goa XI: Dheeraj Singh (Gk), Sandesh Jhingan, Carl McHugh, Odei Onaindia, Seriton Fernandes, Jay Gupta, Noah Sadaoui, Raynier Fernandes, Brandon Fernandes (C), Udanta Singh, Victor Rodriguez

Mohun Bagan SG XI: Vishal Kaith (Gk), Asish Rai, Anwar Ali, Hector Yuste, Subhashis Bose (C), Anirudh Thapa. Sahal Abdul Samad. Hugo Boumous. Ashique Kuruniyan. Dimitrios Petratos, Jason Cummings

FC Goa vs Mohun Bagan Super Giant Preview:

FC Goa appeared at ease in this year’s Durand Cup. They’ve appointed Marquez as their new head coach, and the Gaurs’ play has been fluid. Aside from the tie with Northeast, they defeated the Downtown Heroes 3-0 and Shillong Lajong 6-0. In the quarterfinals, the Gaurs defeated Chennaiyin FC 4-1.

Up next, FC Goa in the Durand Cup semis! ⚡️🔜#MBSG #JoyMohunBagan #আমরাসবুজমেরুন pic.twitter.com/TObDE5h7NH
— Mohun Bagan Super Giant (@mohunbagansg) August 28, 2023

Marquez was calm as usual in the pre-game chat opining, “Well, it’s always very good for any team to play in the semi-finals of a prestigious tournament like the Durand Cup. It’s very good for us also, especially as we’ve been facing some top teams. For us, we’ve just started the last part of our pre-season preparations prior to the start of the ISL and we’re happy to play in competitive situations like this right now.”

The Mariners won the Durand Cup for the last time in 2000. They hope to break their 23-year jinx this year. Except for the 1-0 loss to EB, they triumphed against the Bangladesh Army and Punjab FC. They finished second but qualified as one of the top two teams. MBSG defeated Mumbai City 3-1 to advance to the Durand Cup 2023 semifinals.

MBSG coach Juan Ferrando also had words of praise for the Goa side, saying among other things, “Goa is also a balanced and good team as Mumbai. This Goa is much different from last year’s Goa. They have a new Coach. They have good footballers like Noah , Boris , Udanta, Sandesh and Carl McHugh. So we have to give importance to them. We have AFC Cup group matches coming up. So before that playing against Goa will be a good practice match. We haven’t had a good pre-season so far due to many reasons. So for the team’s best form we have to play more matches. Yes, we beat Mumbai but still a lot of improvement is required in the team. We want to go to the final but without any player’s injury. So for that maybe some changes might happen in the formation.”