Jose Barreto cast his spell on Tollygunge Agragami as Mohun Bagan picked up a comfortable 4-1 win to romp into the final of the 109th IFA Shield football tournament at Kolkata on Thursday.
The Brazilian scored a brace and set up another goal for compatriot Marcos Pereira to dash the hopes of Tollygunge youngsters, who held their fancied rivals 1-1 till the breather.
It was, in fact, Tollygunge who displayed more aggression in the early stages of the Salt Lake Stadium exchange with their Nigerian import Akeem Abolalem proving to be a menace for the Bagan defence. But the match turned as an off-colour Barreto made amends in the second session.
Bagan took the lead in the 21st minute from a sudden, but uncertain attempt of defender Rishi Kapoor, who latched on to a long ball down the left and tried a centre that actually swung into the net to the utter astonishment of Tollygunge goalkeeper Chinmoy Banerjee.
Barely a minute later, Tollygunge drew level as defender Isiaka made way for himself in the rival box to head home an Amit Das corner from the left.
With both teams failing to break the deadlock till the break, Barreto, so far policed into submission by Kajal Bhattacharjee, took charge of the proceedings.
In the 48th minute, he pounced on the ball and took a snap right footer that sneaked into the net with a deflection off a rival defender to make it 2-1.
Bagan coach Aloke Mukherjee, who looked anxious to finish the match off within regulation time, brought in Pereira.
In the 73rd minute, Marcos played a one-two with Barreto. The latter gave a pass to Marcos, who made no mistake in slotting home from close.
With the rivals running out of steam, Bagan engaged in a controlled game to buy time. But Barreto had other plans and did not show any reluctance to score his second, Bagan's fourth, from a measured centre of Hussain, barely three minutes before the long whistle.
With this, the ace striker, who was later adjudged man of the match, scored his fourth goal in two Shield matches.
Earlier, Tollygunge battled hard in the opening session and came close to scoring in the 10th minute when Akeem, fed by an Amit Das through, raced into the opponents' box, but his shot from close was brilliantly saved by Bagan goalkeeper Prosanto Dora.
In the 25th minute, just after restoring parity, Tollygunge got a golden chance but proved unlucky as Tenzen's shot from inside the box rebounded off rival rearguard Lolendra Singh.
Bagan also had their share of chances with the talented Sunil Chettri, who was later replaced by Marcos, letting go two opportunities minutes before the break.
The green and maroon brigade, who last won the Shield in 1999, will face the winners of the second semifinal between arch rivals East Bengal and Ever Ready in the final on September 28.