Felling the giant: Diamond Harbour stunned East Bengal 2-1 in the semifinal.
| Photo Credit: DEBASISH BHADURI
Diamond Harbour FC sprung the biggest surprise of the Durand Cup as the debutant reached the final of the 134th edition of the tournament by beating ISL giant Emami East Bengal 2-1 in the second semifinal at the Salt Lake Stadium here on Wednesday.
The I-League Division 2 champion Diamond Harbour, which came into the match after beating Jamshedpur FC in the quarterfinal, continued with the same form and struck two goals in the second half to eliminate 16-time champion East Bengal.
Diamond Harbour will take on holder NorthEast United FC in the final at the same venue on Saturday.
Spanish defender Mikel Kortazar drew first blood for Diamond Harbour with a spectacular overhead volley in the 66th minute, but EBFC cancelled the lead a minute later through defender Anwar Ali.
Diamond Harbour then silenced a gathering of around 25,000 partisan EBFC fans in the 83rd minute when Jobby Justin tapped home the winner after goalkeeper Prabhsukhan Gill spilt a catch.
Despite getting an added time of nine minutes, EBFC failed to find the equaliser as a determined Diamond Harbour blocked its goalmouth successfully.
The result (semifinal): Diamond Harbour FC 2 (Mikel Kortazar 66, Jobby Justin 83) bt Emami East Bengal 1 (Anwar Ali 67).
Published – August 20, 2025 10:03 pm IST
