Durand Cup 2024 Player Ratings: Vishal Kaith shines, Cummins & Liston disappoint

The shot-stopper came up clutch once again to move to the second consecutive Durand Cup final.

Mohun Bagan Super Giant moved into the final of the 2024 Durand Cup with a thrilling 2-2 (4-3) win over Bengaluru FC at the Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata on Tuesday (August 27).

Bengaluru threatened on the transitions from the get-go and were gifted a penalty in the 42nd minute, which captain Sunil Chhetri converted a minute later. They were then gifted another goal when a bad backpass from Apuia allowed Jorge Pereyra Diaz to tip a goal for Vinith Venkatesh in the 50th minute.

But Mohun Bagan refused to go down at their yard and mounted an impressive comeback when Manvir Singh earned a penalty, allowing Dimitri Petratos to convert it in the 69th minute. Anirudh Thapa then completed the turnaround with a fabulous long-distance effort in the 85th minute, forcing the match to a penalty shootout.

Vishal Kaith turned into their saviour again in the penalty shootout, saving two penalties to win his side their second straight penalty shootout. Here are the Mohun Bagan Player Ratings.

Vishal Kaith – 8.5

Kaith was unable to do much about Chhetri’s penalty but was goaded out of his goal-line for the second goal. Made a sharp save after his side’s first goal. Came up huge in the penalty shootout with two brilliant saves.

Tom Aldred – 5.0

The Australian defender had a difficult outing against the proactive Pereyra Diaz. Made a horrible mistake almost leading to a goal in the first half and caught in bad positions a few times, causing trouble for his backline.

Alberto Rodriguez – 7.0

Rodriguez recovered strongly from his shaky performance against Punjab FC and was a commanding figure in his backline. Made a few brilliant clearances and tackles, especially a big challenge to deny Chhetri’s early goal from a 1v1 situation.

Subhasish Bose – N/R

The Mohun Bagan captain started the game well, moving the ball around nicely. Taken off before the half-hour due to an injury.

Manvir Singh – 6.5

Manvir was quite ineffective as a wing-back and couldn’t really get that involved on the right side. Did well after moving to central challenges and won the penalty for his side. Struck a great penalty in the shootout.

Lalengmawia Ralte – 5.0

Apuia had a shaky outing against the Blues and couldn’t really control things that efficiently in midfield. Too passive with his passing and struggled to win challenges before making a horrible backpass gifting Bengaluru their second goal.

Anirudh Thapa – 8.0

Thapa showcased an impressive quality with his passing, moving the ball into the flanks with crisp, quick passes and being quick with his decision-making. Created a few nice chances with his crossing too. Produced a stunning finish to force penalty shootout.

Sahal Abdul Samad – 4.5

Samad made the occasional nice touch in opposition half, but his final product was really awry. Lacked any creative impact and couldn’t impose his authority in the game.

Liston Colaco – 4.5

Liston lacked ruthlessness in his game and horribly lacked on the decisiveness in the final third. Couldn’t really create anything big, as most of his crosses went astray. Struck the bar in the first half, but also gave away the penalty cheaply to give Bengaluru an advantage. At least struck a great penalty.

Dimitri Petratos –  7.5

Petratos was back to his hard-working ways in his first start of the campaign, covering a lot of ground to help kick-start attacking moves. Moved the ball forward efficiently and also set up chances from his set-pieces. Converted both his penalties perfectly.  

Jason Cummings – 5.0

Cummings was unable to impose his authority in the frontline and couldn’t really pose much threat to Gurpreet. Got into some nice positions and did a decent job with his link-up play, but Cummings’ final product was questionable. Converted his penalty nicely in the shootout.

Substitutes

Dippendu Biswas – 7.5

The young centre-back held his own against a formidable opposition in such ab ig occasion, being a disciplined and proactive threat at the back. Made a few great challenges and moved the ball around nicely too.

Asish Rai – 6.5

Rai made an instant impact after coming on, finding Manvir nicely to help him earn the penalty.  Made a few nice crosses after that too.

Greg Stewart – 5.5

Stewart missed a huge chance after coming on, failing to score a header from open-range. But he helped change the tempo with his incisive forward passes, marshalling the players forward and creating more goal-scoring options. Then missed a potential match-winning penalty too.

Abhishek Suryavanshi – N/R

Suryavanshi helped to bring more steel to his midfield, winning key duels and stoping Bengaluru’s penetration from the middle.

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