Surkumar Singh (centre) being congratulated by teammates at the Salt Lake Stadium on Wednesday. A Telegraph picture

Calcutta: Mahindra United brought curtains on Shenzen FC’s aspirations with a 1-0 win in the second semi-final at the Salt Lake Stadium on Wednesday. Surkumar Singh struck the winner in the 79th minute with a thumping left-footer and helped his team set up Friday’s title clash against Mohun Bagan.

Manjit Singh — undoubtedly the livewire in Mahindra’s attack — fed Surkumar on the right. The side-back charged ahead with great balance and speed, took one Shenzen rival in his stride and unleashed a cracking left-footer from about 20 yards which beat the goalkeeper Zhang Lei at the first post.

Mahindra could have easily returned winners by a much bigger margin but Manjit and Felipe Azevedo were the two major culprits, missing the target twice from close range.

TEAMS

Mahindra United: Sandip Nandy; Surkumar Singh, Mahesh Gawli (Steven Dias, 69), N.C. Manju, N.P. Pradeep; S. Venkatesh (Rauf Khan, 39), K. Ajayan, James Singh, Manjit Singh; Yusif Yakubu, Felipe Azevedo (Peter Siddiqui, 87).

Shenzen FC: Zhang Lei; Xiang Jun, Ma Xiao Lei, Yang Jian (Li Lei, 44), Fan Xiao Dong, Zhu Cong, Zhao Kun, Li Tang, Wuen Lei (Zhang Wen Zhao, 53, Qi Tian Ging, 84), Zhang Jickeng, Huang Feng Tao.

Referee: Subrata Sarkar (IFA).