Emami East Bengal could have sealed the deal in the first half. They failed and paid the price. Mohun Bagan Super Giant lifted the IFA Shield, beating their arch-rivals 5-4 on penalties after 120 minutes ended 1-1 at the Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday.

This was Bagan’s first Shield triumph since 2003.

New signing Mehtab Singh scored the winner in the tie-breaker, and the Bagan bench jumped in joy.

Miguel Ferreira, Kevin Sibille, Naorem Mahesh Singh and Hiroshi Ibusaki scored for East Bengal. Another derby debutant Jay Gupta’s attempt was saved by Bagan goalkeeper Vishal Kaith.

For Bagan, Robson da Silva, Manvir Singh, Liston Colaco, Dimitri Petratos and Mehtab were the scorers.

Before the penalties, East Bengal coach Oscar Bruzon replaced goalkeeper Prabhsukhan Singh Gill with Debjit Majumder, but the move did not pay off.

Sound of silence

Bagan fans once again sent a message to the management protesting against the latter’s decision to skip last month’s ACL 2 match in Iran. They removed all the banners on the stands before kick-off, and the stand was uncharacteristically silent till the 85th minute — barring some celebrations when Bagan were awarded a penalty and the equaliser was scored.

After the match, however, the banners returned and fans burst fire crackers. But the message was loud and clear to the men who run the show in Bagan. “Do not take fans for granted”— a unique protest never seen in a derby.

Action galore

Bagan’s Jason Cummings missed a penalty in the 34th minute when he blasted over from the spot.

Two minutes later, East Bengal got the lead. Basim Rashid set up Mahesh on the left, whose low cross was steered into the net by Hamid Ahadad.

Bagan equalised in the third minute of the first-half injury time when Lalengmawia ‘Apuia’ Ralte’s shot came out of the goal after bouncing off from inside.

In between, Hamad and Bipin Singh missed a chance each, and once the Moroccan’s attempt hit the far post.