Kolkata: Salgaocar defeated East Bengal 3-1 in the final of the 33rd Federation Cup at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on Thursday, to become the first non-Kolkata club to win the premier domestic cup competition in Indian football since Mahindra United in 2005.
Early goals from Edeh Chidi and Francis Fernandes gave Salgaocar a 2-0 lead but Alan Gow pulled one back for the Kolkata giants after converting a penalty, which was awarded controversially. East Bengal tried to come back in the second half but Ryuji Sueoka netted the third to ensure Salgaocar's fourth Fed Cup title.
Salgaocar coach Karim Bencherifa made four changes to the eleven that started in the semi-final against Shillong Lajong as Tomba Singh started in central midfield alongside Rocus Lamare in place of the suspended Mehrajuddin Wadoo while Khelemba Meitei replaced Rahul Kumar in central defence.
The most notable change was the exclusion of Ryuji Sueoka as the Japanese made way for the Nigerian Junior Elijah, who set up Chidi's winner in the semi, while Ishfaq Ahmed started instead of Gilbert Oliveira.
For East Bengal, there was positive team news as both Mehtab Hussain and Raju Gaikwad shrugged of their injury worries to start while Robin Singh returned from suspension to partner Alan Gow up front, with Tolgay Ozbey being named on the bench.
Morgan's gamble to start Mehtab despite not being fully-fit backfired inside the first three minutes as the newly-crowned FPAI Fans' Player of the Year and Indian Player of the Year went down injured after a 50-50 challenge with Chidi.
East Bengal were momentarily down to ten as Mehtab was off the pitch when Salgaocar took their free kick short, with Junior Elijah eventually sending a brilliant cross from the left flank which was headed into the back of the net by an unmarked Chidi.
The former Mohun Bagan striker scored for the fourth straight game as Bencherifa's decision to include Junior Elijah in the starting lineup paid dividends.
To add insult to injury, Mehtab had to be replaced by Sanju Pradhan as the 60,000 supporters inside the Salt Lake Stadium suddenly went all quiet.
The red-and-gold brigade nearly gave their fans something to shout about as Robin Singh sent in a teasing cross into the box, but Alan Gow couldn't get on the end of it.
Trevor Morgan's side were seeing a lot of the ball but were struggling to create openings against a well-organized Salgaocar defence.
The Goan giants doubled their advantage in the 19th minute when Francis Fernandes got behind the East Bengal defence to score on his second attempt past Sandip Nandy, who saved Francis' first shot but the winger found the back of the net from the rebound to stun the Yuba Bharati Krirangan crowd.
With Salgaocar having not conceded a single goal in their previous four matches of the tournament, East Bengal had a mountain to climb and they were given a lifeline in the 25th minute when referee Santhosh Kumar surprisingly gave them a penalty.
Penn Orji fell down inside the box after some pressure from Biswajit Saha but the Salgaocar defender hardly seemed to touch the Nigerian, who went down very easily to convince the referee to point to the spot.
Skipper Luciano Sobrosa led the Salgaocar protest and got himself booked but Alan Gow kept his nerve to send Karanjit the wrong way and make it 2-1 from the penalty spot.
Five minutes later, East Bengal's goalscorer got booked for simulation for the third time in the tournament.
Then in the 39th minute Robin Singh and Biswajit Saha were involved in an off-the ball incident with both players being shown a yellow card eventually.
East Bengal got stronger in the latter stages of the first period, with Robin Singh wasting a great chance in stoppage time as he failed to connect to a lovely low cross from Saumik Dey.
There were no changes for either side at the interval, with East Bengal coming out very early for the second period as they were determined to make a comeback in front of their own fans.
The two-time defending champions wasted a golden opportunity to make it 2-2 just five minutes after the restart as Robin Singh failed to hit the target after Karanjit completely misjudged Sanju Pradhan's cross from the right flank.
At the other end Chidi tried to make something happen for Bencherifa's side by going on a positive looking run but it ended with him getting booked for simulation.
Trevor Morgan introduced Tolgay Ozbey in place of Penn Orji while coach Bencherifa made a double substitution at the hour mark as Ryuji Sueoka replaced Junior while Gilbert Oliveira came on for Ishfaq Ahmed.
It was Salgaocar who went close to scoring the next goal as a fine throughball saw Francis Fernandes in plenty of space. The winger played a good ball into the box which Chidi got on the end of, but his shot was well-blocked.
The I-League holders got their third goal in the 66th minute when Ryuji Sueoka found the back of an empty net after Sandip failed to collect a low cross from Edeh Chidi.
The goal resulted after a quick counter-attack from the Goan side, with Bencherifa once again coming up with a master-class as Sueoka scored just six minutes after coming on.
Morgan brought on Khan Thang Paite in place of Naoba Singh as the seven-time winners switched to an attacking 3-4-3 formation.
But Mehtab's absence meant that the Kolkata side couldn't press well enough and they also lacked creativity in midfield, with too many forwards playing at the same time.
Salgaocar defended in numbers and provided very good protection for goalkeeper Karanjit Singh as East Bengal struggled to create clear-cut chances, with their fans also giving up hope even before the last ten minutes.
East Bengal dominated possession in the dying stages of the match but couldn't comeback as Salgaocar held on to a 3-1 victory to win their first Federation Cup since 1997.
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