Shillong Lajong oust East Bengal 4-3

Meghalaya outfit Shillong Lajong FC held their nerves to down East Bengal 4-3 on aggregate in extra-time to become the first team to qualify for Federation Cup football semi-final, here on Thursday.

Trailing 1-2 in the first leg, East Bengal brought their campaign back on track with a 2-1 scoreline in the regulation time as the match advanced to the extra time with 3-3 on aggregate as Brazilian Ulliams Bomfin Souza struck the decisive goal in the 114th minute.

Six minutes before the match was headed for a shootout verdict, the Brazilian chested the ball down from a Penn Orji cross before hitting the ball past TP Rehenesh to silence the home crowd. Shillong Lajong FC will now face the winners of Mohun Bagan and Salgaocar return leg clash here on Friday as the Mariners lead 3-2 heading into the home leg semis.

Englishman Trevor Morgan, a two-time Federation Cup winning coach for East Bengal, thus began his second stint as the head coach in an ominous fashion failing to win against the Lajong outfit in three attempts inside 15 days.

Lajong took a 17th minute lead through Fabio as seven minutes later, East Bengal equalised through Ranty Martins’ penalty lodging the ball into the bottom right corner from another penalty.