Durand Cup 2022: Army Red, Chennaiyin FC play out a thrilling draw; Rajasthan United hand shock defeat to ATK Mohun Bagan

Army Red 2-2 Chennaiyin FC

Army Red sprung the first surprise of the 131st IndianOil Durand Cup, holding two-time Indian Super League (ISL) winners Chennayin FC to an exciting 2-2 draw, in a Group C encounter at the Khuman Lampak stadium. The game turned on his head in the second-half after a barren first 45 minutes.

The first 45 minutes turned out to be a battle for midfield supremacy with both teams forcing each other to play out on the wings. The second half brought the goals. The Army Reds turned up the heat as well and Chennayin also kept attacking in what was end to end free flowing football.

The Reds however got the goal first. An inch-perfect corner in the 54th found Khongsai, who slotted home with a thumping header. Stung by the reverse, Chennayin came out all guns blazing and Vanspaul hit the woodwork in the 62nd minute.

Silskovic then got an open chance from a measured aerial ball, but he jumped high to head the ball straight into the keeper's gloves. Chennayin finally got their goal in the 89th minute. Another perfectly executed corner from Thapa found Duker who made no mistake this time with a towering header. They were not done yet however.

Another corner from Thapa in the fourth minute of stoppage time was cleared out by the Reds defence only towards a lurking Vanspaul whose punch found the back of the net and put Chennayin in the lead.

If anyone thought the game was over, they were in for a surprise as two minutes later, Sushil floated in a corner and the ball flew over Debjit to find Liton, who tapped in like a fox in the box, and the stalemate remained for the first draw of the tournament after six games.

ATK Mohun Bagan 2-3 Rajasthan United FC

Rajasthan United FC (RUFC) produced the biggest upset of the 31st IndianOil Durand Cup so far, beating local favourites ATK Mohun Bagan (ATKMB) 3-2 in a Group B fixture at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (VYBK), in the eastern fringes of the city.

ATKMB started as home favourites do, piling on attack after attack but the organised RUFC defence ably led by Man of the Match Niraj Kumar in goal thwarted all. The goal came when Hugo Boumous began a counter-attack and found Ashique on the left wing, who delivered a cross for Kiyan to score.

ATKMB's joy was shortlived however as RUFC struck just before the half-time whistle when Neihsial made a run outwitting the ATKMB defence and crossed for Amangeldiev to score.

In the second half, Boumous took a clever quick free-kick to find Ashique unmarked inside the box, who drove in to place it inside the net perfectly to score his first goal in his very first competitive game for ATKMB.

Then came the double change which changed the match. Ferrando took out Boumous and Florentine Pogba to bring in defenders Ashish Rai and Subhasish Bose. RUFC took advantage and forayed forward with Lalremsanga Fanai taking advantage of a melee inside the box and a rebound off an Arsh save, to slot home.

ATKMB stepped up their attack once again and on another day, the result could have been different. Kiyan saw one come-off the crossbar and Manvir missed with just the keeper to beat when his shot sailed over in the 75th minute.

With RUFC crowding their defence and ATKMB on the attack, there seemed only two results possible as the game entered five minutes of stoppage time. In the very last minute, RUFC launched a counter from their half and found the ATKMB defence back tracking. A cross from the left found Nikum right in front of Arsh and he made no mistake to give RUFC a famous victory.