East Bengal ended their 12-year national trophy drought with an extra time win over Odisha FC, thanks to Cleiton Silva making it 3-2 in the 111th minute as Carles Cuadrat’s side won the 2024 Kalinga Super Cup. There was plenty of drama in the final, as 10-man Odisha denied East Bengal the win in regulation time with an injury time penalty, but the Kolkata giants had the last laugh. With the Super Cup win, East Bengal also qualify for the preliminary rounds of the 2024-25 AFC Champions League 2.

East Bengal, who were widely expected to cede possession prior to the game, started well, controlling most of the ball and limiting the in-form Odisha. Those limitations largely arose from Souvik Chakrabarti’s brilliant man-marking job on Ahmed Jahouh. However, the telling moment of the first half came in the 39th minute, when Diego Mauricio pounced on a heavy touch from Borja Herrera in the box and stabbed a first-time shot into the net. The home side went into the break with the advantage, although it could have been more had Mauricio not spurned more chances to score.

The introduction of Naorem Mahesh Singh at half time changed the game completely, as East Bengal had incisiveness to their attacks. It paid off seven minutes into the second half, Mahesh jinking past the attentions of Jahouh before a peach of a through ball to Nandhakumar Sekar running behind the defence. The East Bengal winger rounded Mawia Ralte in the Odisha goal and slotted the ball into the net to equalize.

The turnaround was complete on the hour mark, Mourtada Fall conceding a penalty with a reckless dive on Borja Herrera in the box, although the contact was minimal. Saul Crespo stepped up to take the spot-kick, and sent Ralte the wrong way to give East Bengal the lead. Fall’s horror night was capped off in the 69th minute, the defender penalized for a raised elbow while challenging for a header and earning a second yellow card. Odisha were down to 10 men, yet with the burden of ending a 12-year wait for a national trophy on their backs, East Bengal dropped deeper, ceding possession and opting to protect their lead.

As the game moved into seven minutes of injury-time, Prabhsukhan Gill continued his attempts at time-wasting, but was made to pay with seconds to go. Roy Krishna produced an ingenious first-time flick to send Mauricio through on goal down the right channel, and the Odisha striker was brought down by a charging Gill, conceding a penalty. Ahmed Jahouh stepped up, and with the final touch of regulation time, produced an ice-cold Panenka to draw Odisha level and break the hearts of East Bengal fans in the stands – as the game ended 2-2 in regulation time.

Carles Cuadrat’s side still had the one-man advantage, and it nearly paid off, Souvik Chakrabarti striking the bar from a cutback. He was sent off moments later, as both sides were down to 10 men.

Yet, there was a final twist in the tale – Mawia Ralte throwing the ball across goal to Narender Gahlot in the box, but as the Odisha defender took a touch and turned, he saw Cleiton Silva bearing down on him. The Brazilian stole the ball off the defender with a super tackle, and as a panicked Ralte came charging in, cutely slotted the ball under the Odisha keeper from a narrow angle as the ball trickled into the net, East Bengal with the lead in the 111th minute. It sparked scenes of wild celebration as the entirety of the East Bengal bench ran to the corner flag to celebrate with a sliding Cleiton.

Odisha had the stuffing knocked out of them, and East Bengal saw out a nervy final 10 minutes to finally end their trophy drought. The final whistle blew, and the red and gold fans in the stands celebrated for the first time since 2012, the Kalinga Super Cup theirs.

(You can recap the game as-it-happened, below)