In what was the earliest substitution of the Durand Cup so far, Mohun Bagan’s Jose Ramirez Barreto was taken off in the 21st minute against JCT. But in the short time he had been on field, the Brazilian had scored twice to assure Bagan a semi-final berth. They were also the only goals scored through the match.

The first came from a goal-mouth scramble in the third minute; then, piercing JCT defenders Sarabjeet and Gurwinder Singh on a through ball from Edeh Chidi, he scored the second in the 15th. Barreto’s short stay on Friday was also enough to reassure coach Karim Bencherifa of the increasing understanding between his team’s new strike pair.

Moments after scoring, Barreto presented Chidi with a similar chance but the Nigerian missed the target. Bagan didn't concede any but they could well’ve doubled the margin. Spot-kicks remain Bencherifa’s only concerns with Lukram James Singh hitting the bar in the 37th minute after Chidi was fouled by Daljit Singh inside the box. This was Bagan’s third penalty miss of the season and second in the tournament.

After the two early goals, Bagan decided to sit back, keeping the midfield and the defence busy. When they were pushed by JCT in the final minutes of the first half and early on in the second, left-back Rakesh Masih made a last-ditch tackle to keep out Baljit Sahni's challenge in the 43rd minute and goalkeeper Sangram Mukherjee had to give his best to keep out the Sakatar Singh's tap in the 56th. JCT goalkeeper Karanjit Singh was in line for even better saves later, stretching himself to his left and right to deny Branco Cardozo and Chidi in the 59th minute.

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