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After battling it out for six days, we have come down to just two teams. The semi-finals concluded earlier today. Kolhapur defeated Pune while Nagpur overcame Mumbai to prevail into the final. Interestingly, both the semi-finals were decided on penalties.
Kolhapur 0-0 Pune (Kolhapur won 4-2 on penalties)
The first semi-final was a brilliant showdown between two fierce sides. Pune looked to be on top for the majority of the time but failed to convert their chances. On the other hand, Kolhapur took their time to settle down and created several chances on break. Both the sides were physical in their approach.
After failing to score in the normal time, the match went to penalties. Pune brought on goalkeeper Bernard who went onto save Shubham Joshi’s attempt. For Pune, Sahil Bhokre blasted his attempt over the bar, whereas, Akash Meghri spectacularly denied another penalty. Masud Mulla stepped up to take the winning penalty and calmly converted it to book Kolhapur place in the final.
Mumbai 0-0 Nagpur (Kolhapur won 4-2 on penalties)
The second semi-final between Mumbai and Kolhapur was a reminiscent of the first semi. A bit more physical with high tempo. Despite playing with a young and inexperience side, Mumbai were able to cope up with the high pressure of Kolhapur’s midfield and attack.
In the second-half, Mumbai’s Kamran and Sohail almost opened the scoring with a wonderful play while Bryce kept on using his preferred left-foot to launch dangerous ball into the box. Both the sides held up brilliantly in the last few minutes to take the match into penalties.
Usman and Bryce missed for Mumbai while Nagpur was spot on as they converted all their penalties to qualify for the final and set up a clash with Kolhapur.
For more on the tournament information please check competition.wifa.in