Aizawl drew in Shillong in a dramatic second-half goal to pip Mohun Bagan to second spot with a slender one point difference in the lip-smacking twin Sunday showdowns.
Ten-man Mohun Bagan brilliantly bounced back through a Darryl Duffy goal to down Chennai City FC 2-1 but the result was not enough as they had to settle for a runners-up finish for the second successive time in I-League football here today.
Aizawl drew in Shillong in a dramatic second-half goal to pip Mohun Bagan to second spot with a slender one point difference in the lip-smacking twin Sunday showdowns.
The clash lived up to the expectation as there was high drama starting with the news that Aizawl conceded a ninth minute goal to leave the Rabindra Sarobar home crowd in a frenzy mode.
But in the 32nd minute, Mohun Bagan's U-22 recruit Nanda Kumar silenced the crowd when he darted the ball and scored with a gentle push, showing immaculate presence of mind.
What followed was some missed opportunities with Balwant at the receiving end, but Mohun Bagan finally scored the equaliser in the 45+2 minute through captain Katsumi Yusa.
The unlucky Balwant got this time right to set Katsumi up. The ball was in the air as Balwant, with his back to the goal, chested it down to Katsumi who put it past Karanjit Singh.
Substitute Jeje Lalpekhlua got the better of Debabrata Roy on the right channel and a cross near the byline saw Duffy place it brilliantly from the first-timed shot to take Mohun Bagan ahead in the 77th minute.
But all hell broke loose for the home side when their promising custodian Debjit Majumder was red-carded two minutes later in a seemingly dubious decision when he thwarted Nandakumar Soosai Raj inside the box in what appeared a clean tackle.
Arguments and protests with referee Tejas Nagvenkar followed as Shibinraj Kunniyil came in for Majumder but Mohun Bagan held on to the lead till the end.
With their fate hinging on Aizawl's loss at Shillong, Mohun Bagan got the big news when Lajong drew the first blood in the ninth minute.
The crowd erupting in joy, Mohun Bagan went for the jugular but it was Chennai who were gifted three setpieces but none of them looked promising.
Their first chance came in the 22nd minute when Duffy set up Balwant but was thwarted by a Chennai defender.
Nothing went Balwant's way as he missed an open net in the 29th minute from a grounded cross from Yusa as minutes later Rabindra Sarobar crowd were left stunned.
Smarting from their 0-1 setback in Aizawl, Mohun Bagan made two changes for the all-important clash of the season, by bringing in Balwant and Raynier Fernandes in place of Jeje Lalpekhlua and Azharuddin Mallick.
Chennai coach V Soundararajan also showed his full intent and rung in five changes from the 1-6 loss at Churchill Brothers.
(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
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