Durand Cup 2023 Finals: East Bengal FC to play Mohun Bagan Super Giants at Salk Lake Stadium
The 2023 Durand Cup final match will see arch rivals East Bengal FC and Mohun Bagan Super Giant FC coming face-to-face at the iconic Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata today.
Both clubs hold the joint record of 16 Durand Cup titles each. The winner of today’s match will take a leap forward in Asia’s oldest running football tournament.
Both East Bengal and Mohun Bagan SG have reached the final spot with hard-fought victories in the semi-finals. The semi-final match between East Bengal FC and NorthEast United FC ended with a penalty win for the Bengal side. The match was controversial with East Bengal fans making racist slurs and throwing objects at NE United FC fans. Mohun Bagan SG’s beat FC Goa 2-1 to reach the final.
The two sides had also met during the group stages of the tournament, in which East Bengal FC got the better of Mohun Bagan 1-0 for their first win over their rivals in four years.
The last time East Bengal played in the Durand Cup final was in 2004. East Bengal defeated Mohun Bagan 2-1 in that match.
Mohun Bagan, the reigning ISL champions, last won the Durand Cup title in 2000. They made it to the finals in 2004, 2009 and 2019 but lost on all three occasions.
Durand Cup 2023 began on August 3. The tournament’s 132nd edition saw 24 teams, four more than last year, compete for the coveted title.
With Inputs from: olympics.com
