Till Tuesday evening, the buzz was that the Mohun Bagan Super Giant-Emami East Bengal quarter-final clash would not take place on Sunday due to logistical reasons.
However, late in the evening, things turned around dramatically, and the season’s first proper derby will go ahead on Sunday itself at the Salt Lake Stadium. The much-awaited clash will kick off at seven in the evening.
Both Bagan and East Bengal finished the group phase of the competition unbeaten, winning all three matches, respectively. Bagan, though, will not be able to avail the services of Manvir Singh and Kiyaan Nassiri in their quarter-final clash as both footballers are nursing injuries.
In the other last-eight clashes, Shillong Lajong FC will face Indian Navy, and Bodoland FC meet NorthEast United FC in Shillong and Kokrajhar, respectively, on Saturday. On Sunday before the derby, Diamond Harbour FC take on Jamshedpur FC in Jamshedpur.
On Tuesday, Indian Navy booked their place in the quarter finals, courtesy of late strikes from Pintu Mahata and Sreyas VG that secured them a 2-1 win over TRAU FC in Imphal.
TRAU took the lead just before the half-hour mark through Moirangthem Nelson Singh, but the equaliser in the 87th minute by Pintu and the winning goal by Sreyas in the third minute of injury time ensured Navy finished on top of Group F with seven points ahead of Real Kashmir FC, who finished their campaign with six points.