Mohun Bagan showed nerves of steel, even after being reduced to ten men from the eighth minute, to edge out United SC 5-4 via the penalty shoot-out and set up a summit clash against Churchill Brothers in the 114th IFA Shield football tournament in Kolkata on Wednesday.
The newly-laid artificial turf at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Salt Lake saw the second semi-final being decided through the tie-breaker, as both sides failed to score in the regulation period and extra-time.
Tuesday's first semi-final between Churchill Brothers and Air India was also decided via the penalty shoot-out, which the Goans won 4-2 after being tied 1-1 after 120 minutes of play.
Substitute goalkeeper Sangram Mukherjee gave Mohun Bagan a flying start in the tie-breaker by saving Jayanta Sen's shot from the spot.
All the five Mohun Bagan penalty takers -- Marcos Pereira, Rakesh Masih, Snehashis Chakraborty, Surkumar Singh and James Singh -- then found the target to send the green and maroon brigade to the final.
Earlier, Mohun Bagan's starting goalkeeper Shilton Paul did all the hard work, thwarting all United efforts for 120 minutes, but Sangram emerged the hero with his anticipation in the tie-breaker, diving to the right to deny Sen in the penalty shoot-out.
Sen's miss proved costly for United though PC Lalawmpuia, Eduardo Coelho, Lal Kamal Bhowmick and Subhashish Roy Chowdhury found the net from the spot.
The match got off to an acrimonious start -- reminding one of French star Zinedine Zidane head-butting Italian midfielder Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup final -- as Mohun Bagan's Nigerian forward Edeh Chidi left Eduardo with a bleeding nose after head-butting him in the eighth minute following a tackle from behind.
Jharkhand referee O P Thakur, after consulting his assistant, flashed a red card at Chidi, reducing Mohun Bagan to ten men for the remaining 112 minutes of the match.
Eduardo, who was attended to by medical staff, was also shown the yellow card.
Mohun Bagan players, including skipper Deepak Mondal and Marcos, pleaded with referee to reverse the decision but Thakur stood his ground.
