The return of the Hero Super Cup after four years in 2023 saw Odisha FC lift the trophy by beating Bengaluru FC 2-1 in the final in Kozhikode, Kerala. They obtain a chance to compete in the playoff battle against the 2021/22 I-League Winners Gokulam Kerala for a place in the AFC Cup group stage next season. The first-ever silverware for the Juggernauts rounded off a competition that had plenty of goals and did not disappoint at least with the dramatic action on the pitch.
The tournament began early this month with all 11 clubs automatically qualified for the group stages and only one side from I-League, winners RoundGlass Punjab earned the direct slot. The rest of the 11 sides played against each other in the qualifiers to decide the final five entering the main contest. 16 teams were divided into four groups with the winners of each group moving into the semifinals. A total of 113 goals was scored throughout the tournament including the qualifiers and the final. Only one ended goalless between Chenniayin FC and Churchill Brothers in the second match of Group D. Jamshedpur FC scored the most goals in the group stages with 11. Later, Odisha FC reached the tally by winning the competition.
Here are all the high-scoring games that occurred in the group stages of the Hero Super Cup 2023:
ATK Mohun Bagan 5-1 Gokulam Kerala
The recently crowned ISL winners began the Super Cup in an emphatic fashion by taking sweet revenge for their last year’s AFC Cup embarrassment against Gokulam Kerala with a 5-1 thumping. Liston Colcao came out from his disastrous league campaign by bagging a sublime first-half brace with Hugo Boumous adding a third before the break. Manvir Singh extended the lead in the 63rd minute before Sergio Mendigutxia pulled one back for the stunned Malabarians. Kiyan Nassiri added the cherry in the cake in stoppage time to end the routing.
FC Goa 3-5 Jamshedpur FC
On the same evening, FC Goa and Jamshedpur FC played an absolute thriller in Kozhikode with last year’s ISL Shield Winners emerging victorious in the eight goals game. The Gaurs took the lead in the game with star forward Noah Sadaoui scoring in the sixth minute. However, the Men of Steels made a turnaround with Pratik Chaudhari’s set-piece exploits and Rafael Crivellaro bagging a brace on either side of a Fares Arnaout own goal. The game seemed to be lost with Jamshedpur FC 4-1 up but Goa responded with Iker Guarrotxena before Sadaoui grabbed his second getting his head to an audacious cross from Brandon Fernandes. Coming off the bench, Harry Sawyer made sure the win belonged to the club from Jharkhand as his strike ricocheted off him into the net in the 82nd minute.
Chennaiyin FC 4-2 NorthEast United
Chennaiyin FC started their journey in the Super Cup with the same fixture that wrapped up their ISL season. It was a thriller back then and opened up goals in this clash as well. This time NorthEast United scored one less than the ISL encounter but the two goals scored by Rochharzela before half-time and the last-minute consolation from Laldanmawia Ralte build confidence for the side in the tournament coming off a poor league season. For the Marina Machans, Rahim Ali scored a goal in each half followed by strikes from Edwin Vanspaul and Julius Duker.
East Bengal 3-3 Hyderabad FC
In a closely contested battle for the top spot in Group B, East Bengal and Hyderabad FC played each other for the bragging rights with eventual champions Odisha FC also in the mix. Neither side managed a semifinal place at the end but the game turned out to be a cracker. The Nizams made an incredible comeback from 3-1 down in the last 20 minutes to level the score-line with Abdul Rabeeh scoring the all-important equalizer. Javier Siverio scored twice earlier in the match after Mahesh Singh got his own brace and VP Suhair struck in the first half in an unreal collapse of the Hyderabad defense.
Jamshedpur FC 3-2 Gokulam Kerala
Jamshedpur FC already had secured the top place in the group by the time the final game against Gokulam Kerala went along. The I-League side also suffered elimination losing the other group games but that did not stop both sides from giving it all for the match. The Malabarians took the lead on the half-hour mark through Mensah Koney who scored again in the match but not before Harry Sawyer equalized and center-back Pratik Chaudhari got another goal in the tournament from a corner. As he often does, Ishan Pandita then come up with the winner in the 69th minute this time starting a game and not one of his cameos off the bench.
NorthEast United 6-3 Churchill Brothers
After upsetting ISL Shield Winners Mumbai City in the second group game, NorthEast got themselves a chance to move into the last four of the competition in the final match. Fighting against Churchill Brothers who had nothing to lose, the Highlanders played out a classic winning it 6-3. This became the highest-scoring affair in the Super Cup this season. Wilmar Jordan scored a hattrick with four goals along with sole strikes from Gani Nigam and Jithin MS. Kingslee Fernandes and Martin Chaves found the net for Churchill Brothers with the other being an own goal from Mohammed Irshad. The result put Floyd Pinto’s men into the semifinals with Mumbai City doing the favor for them beating Chennayin FC in the other game.
Must Read | Indian Football Calendar for the year 2023
