NorthEast United thrash Diamond Harbour 6-1 to retain Durand Cup

NorthEast United retained the Durand Cup with a dominant 6-1 victory over debutants Diamond Harbour in Kolkata, with Moroccan star Alaaeddine Ajaraie bagging three assists, a goal, and both top individual awards

Hyderabad: Defending champions NorthEast United FC produced a dominant display at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata on Saturday, dismantling debutants Diamond Harbour FC 6-1 in the grand finale of the 134th IndianOil Durand Cup, sealing their second straight title in style.

A night of relentless attacking football saw the Highlanders overwhelm their opponents, with six different players on the scoresheet and talisman Alaaeddine Ajaraie starring with three assists and a late penalty.

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Diamond Harbour’s solitary strike came in the 68th minute, credited to Luka Majcen after Jobby Justin’s header deflected off him.

It was the defending champions who drew first blood. A clever cut-back from Samte in the 28th minute found Parthib, whose effort was parried away by Mirshad. The resulting corner sparked the breakthrough.

Andy’s delivery was poorly dealt with by the Diamond Harbour defence, and though Mirshad produced a fine initial stop from Mayakkannan’s strike, the loose ball fell to centre-back Asheer Akhtar, who swept it home in the 30th minute to make it 1-0.

Chema Nunez wasted a gilt-edged chance to double the advantage in the 39th minute, dragging his shot wide after Ajaraie’s clever build-up play. Diamond Harbour nearly punished that lapse when Kortazar had a free header in the 43rd minute, but the chance went begging.

Right at the stroke of half-time, NorthEast delivered a hammer blow. Parthib Gogoi found himself in space and curled a composed right-foot finish beyond Mirshad to make it 2-0. The Highlanders entered the break firmly in control, having registered 8 shots (6 on target) to Diamond Harbour’s 4 (just one on target).

Any hopes of a comeback were crushed within five minutes of the restart. Ajaraie surged past the Diamond Harbour backline to collect Nunez’s lofted pass and squared unselfishly for Thoi Singh, who tapped home in the 50th minute to extend the lead to 3-0.

Gurmeet then kept out a thunderous effort from Liansanga in the 63rd minute, maintaining his clean sheet for five more minutes. In the 68th, Jobby Justin’s header from a Robilal Mandi corner took a heavy deflection off Majcen’s body, wrong-footing Gurmeet and pulling one back for Diamond Harbour.

In the 81st minute, substitute Jairo pounced on a punched clearance by Mirshad, rifling home a thunderous strike from the edge of the box to restore the three-goal cushion at 4-1.
Ajaraie, a constant menace, turned provider again in the 85th minute. His low cross from the left was met by a sliding finish from Andy, who made it 5-1, marking Ajaraie’s third assist of the night.

The Moroccan forward then put the icing on the cake. In stoppage time, his curling strike from distance rattled the post, but he was quickest to the rebound, drawing a foul from Sairuatkima inside the box. From the spot, Ajaraie calmly converted to cap a sensational personal display and complete the 6-1 rout.

NorthEast United FC swept all the individual awards. Moroccan forward Alaaeddine Ajaraie emerged as the standout performer of the tournament, claiming both the Golden Ball for best player and the Golden Boot as top scorer with 8 goals. Goalkeeper Gurmeet received the Golden Glove for his consistency and crucial saves.