The 2024 Indian Super Cup Group Stage is shaping up to be quite a competition between the Indian Super League clubs who have predictably dominated the tournament so far. Khalid Jamil has done a good job at Jamshedpur in a limited time frame with the Men of Steel dominating Group B so far while Goa and Odisha in Group D have been delighting the Indian football fans.
Group A
Mohun Bagan SG and Hyderabad kicked off Matchday 2 proceedings and the Nizams looked more confident on the field after a brave performance in the 3-2 loss against East Bengal.
A mistake from Brendan Hamill in the 6th minute allowed Ramhlunchhunga to pounce and place the ball in the back of an empty net. Dimitri Petratos, Hugo Boumous, and Jason Cummings tried their best but the Nizams went into the half-time break with the lead intact.
A skied effort from Boumous, a long-range try from Raj Basfore, and a powerful strike from Petratos couldn’t break Laxmikant Kattimani’s clean sheet while Arsh Anwar Sheikh kept his side in the contest by making a couple of saves at the other end of the pitch.
Skipper Nim Dorjee Tamang was shown a second yellow card of the afternoon in the 84th minute for dissent leaving his side a man down for the remainder of the fixture. The Mariners benefitted immediately as Jeremy Zohminghlua beat Kattimani with a looping header to score an unfortunate own goal that ruined the hard work done by the Hyderabad defenders.
After parity was restored, Mark Zothanpuia fouled Boumous inside the 18-yard box and Petratos drilled a powerful strike past the Hyderabad goalkeeper to bag all three points for MBSG
In the 7:30 pm kickoff on Tuesday, East Bengal faced Sreenidi Deccan and Nishu Kumar’s free-kick allowed Hijazi Maher to steal the lead in the 12th minute for the Torchbearers as the Jordanian’s header beat Ubaid CK in goal.
Borja Herrera and Nandhakumar Sekar failed to find the target in the next 15 minutes but Javier Siviero’s long-range strike gave Cuadrat’s men a two-goal cushion in the 31st minute. Sreenidi Deccan thought they had struck back before the half-time break but David Castaneda’s headed goal was disallowed due to a marginally wrong offside decision.
Cleiton Silva’s free-kick and Sekar’s rebound effort forced Ubaid into making a double save before the post came to his rescue as the ball found another East Bengal player who headed it onto the woodwork.
Sreenidi earned a penalty late and William stepped up to convert it offering a chance to salvage a point but the Hyderabad-based side once again fell short setting up a delicious Kolkata Derby on Friday evening.
Group B
In the NorthEastern Derby, NorthEast United took on Shillong Lajong at 2 pm on Monday and the Highlanders started the match on a positive note by initiating two promising attacks in the first 10 minutes but Juan Pedro Benali’s side failed to make either of them count.
The first goal of the evening was surprisingly scored by Lajong in the 17th minute as Dinesh Singh allowed Douglas Tardin to have a shot at goal and the Brazilian forward bulged the back of the net with a powerful strike.
In the 27th minute, Daniel Goncalves could have doubled the Shillong-based club’s lead but his header ricocheted the crossbar and bounced back in play before being cleared away by the NorthEast United defenders.
Nestor Albiach scored a brace to help his side win 3-1
The Highlanders were desperate to score the equalizer at the start of the second half and Dinesh took a ferocious shot from 30 yards forcing Neithovilie Chalieu to make a timely save. Chaliue’s clean sheet was finally taken away from him as Romain Philippoteaux put in a cross for Nestor Albiach who headed the ball in to make it 1-1 in the 59th minute.
A minor clip from a Lajong defender on Macarton Louis Nickson handed the Highlanders a penalty kick which Albiach successfully converted to give his side the lead with more than a quarter of the match remaining.
After NorthEast United bagged their first set of three points of the ongoing Super Cup campaign, ISL table-toppers Kerala Blasters went up against Jamshedpur and Dimitrios Diamantakos started threatening Jamshedpur in the third minute with a well-taken free-kick. After TP Rehensh’s brilliant save, Sachin Suresh also came up with a much-needed one-on-one save as Daniel Chima Chukwu was denied a goal in the 16th minute.
Imran Khan’s mistimed challenge on Daisuke Sakai gifted the Blasters a penalty kick and Diamantakos fired the ball past Rehensh who dived in the correct direction. A few minutes later, a cross from Muhammed Uvais found Chukwu unmarked and the Nigerian striker placed the ball into the back of the net to score the equalizer.
In the 57th minute, substitutes Alen Stevanovic and Steve Ambri combined well to set up Chima Chukwu who shot straight at Sachin but the Blasters goalkeeper spilt the ball over the goal line to hand the advantage to Jamshedpur.
Less than 120 seconds later, Chima Chukwu fouled Marko Leskovic inside the penalty area handing over another penalty to the Blasters. Diamantakos once again found the bottom left corner with precision to make it 2-2 with 30 minutes left on the clock.
Chima Chukwu made up for his mistake when he earned a penalty out of nowhere forcing Leskovic to trip him inside the 18-yard area and Jeremmy Manzoro converted the third penalty of the evening to knock out the Kochi-based side out of the 2024 Super Cup.
While there were no more goals on the evening, Chima Chukwu was sent off for a stamp on Leskovic in the third minute of injury time and Kwame Peprah went down with a concerning injury right before the full-time whistle.
Group C
Connor Shields opened the scoring gates on Tuesday as Chennaiyin took the lead against Gokulam Kerala in the 25th minute. Just after the hour mark, Irfan Yadwad poked the ball past an onrushing Avilash Paul to double the Marina Machans’ lead on the afternoon.
In the 69th minute, the Malabarians went down to ten men as Rishad was shown a straight red card by referee Crystal John to deny the two-time ISL champions a clear goalscoring opportunity.
Mumbai City and Punjab were the two combatants fighting it out for three crucial points in the 7:30 pm kickoff as the Northerners started the game more brightly with the duo of Wilmar Jordan Gil and Luka Majcen threatening the Islanders.
In the 27th minute, Majcen played a one-two pass with Madih Talal before finding the bottom right corner of the net to punish the Islanders and open the scoring for Punjab. Ayush Chhikara scored the first goal for Mumbai City once again equalizing for Petr Kratky’s side after a brilliant team move in the 36th minute.
Early in the second half, Gil crossed the ball low for Talal who found Phurba Lachenpa’s hands from a three-yard distance. Staikos Vergetis and his men had to pay for that missed chance as Chhikara scored once again from a brilliant passing move involving Jorge Pereyra Diaz and Gurkirat Singh.
The Shers came close to making it 2-2 on four or five instances but Majcen’s inefficiency in front of goal and Phurba Lachenpa’s point-blank saves were keeping Kratky’s team in the lead. Finally, in the 87th minute, Yoell van Nieff could only clear a Nikhil Prabhu cross till Majcen who found the back of the net past many bodies in the six-yard box.
Mumbai City and Punjab gave each other a hard time on the field
In injury time, Kiran Limbu spilt an easy cross and Alberto Noguera found substitute Seilenthang Lotjem and the Sudeva Delhi academy product who scored past Limbu to keep the Islanders in the driving seat ahead of their meeting against Chennaiyin on Sunday.
Group D
Bengaluru and Goa went at loggerheads as Manolo Marquez’s side attacked from the word go but none of their intent could be translated into output in the first half hour of play. In the 34th minute, Seriton Fernandes sold his team short by setting up Javi Hernandez clean through on goal but the Spaniard skied his effort.
At the start of the second half, a precise free-kick from Hernandez found Shankar Sampingraj whose header was saved by Dheeraj Singh. The match went on further as an afternoon of frustrating finishes was about to come to an end but Muhammed Nemil found the unmarked Brison Fernandes who headed the ball into the back of the net from an awkward angle.
The Gaurs held out for a couple of minutes to bag three points, knocking out the Blues and putting pressure on the defending champions. Shifting the focus back to the main pitch of Kalinga Stadium, Odisha welcomed Inter Kashi and the Kalinga Warriors dominated throughout the first half but Arindam Bhattacharja was keeping them out.
In the 45th minute, Jerry Lalrinzuala’s cross was punched out by Bhattacharja straight to Puitea who volleyed the ball in the back of the net with his left foot. Before the clock could strike the hour mark, Diego Mauricio doubled his side’s lead with a long-range effort.
A perfect team goal was orchestrated by the Juggernauts as Roy Krishna released Isak Vanlalruatfela and the midfielder helped the hosts close the battle in their favor with a 3-0 win setting up an interesting virtual quarter-final against Goa.