New Delhi: Three goals in the span of twenty minutes early in the second half helped East Bengal to a 3-1 victory over Army XI in a group B match of the 117th Durand Cup football tournament on Thursday. Paolo Roberto da Silva struck a brace and Chandan Das added another for the fifteen-time champions.
With this win East Bengal go on top of their group on superior goal difference. The other team in the group, Sporting Clube de Goa are second following their solitary goal victory over Army XI.
East Bengal thus need only a draw against the Goan club in their last match on Saturday to reach the last four.
Meanwhile, in a group D match, Dempo Sports Club Goa overcame a much-improved Tata Football Academy (TFA) 2-1. Johny D'Cruz (56) and Rony Martins (61) scored for Dempo, while Lalam Puia (71) pulled one back for TFA.
It was the armymen who took the lead against East Bengal in the 24th minute. Central defender Angam Sangai?s free-kick from his own half bounced in front of goalkeeper Rajat Ghosh Dastidar, brushed his finger tips and went in.
East Bengal lifted their game after the breather. A minute after the lemon break, Syed Rahim Nabi slid a forward pass to Douglas da Silva. He flicked the ball over a defender?s head to Paolo who shot home. The Calcutta outfit doubled the lead at the hour mark. Douglas was tripped inside the box by defender S. Ramesh and Chandan converted the penalty.
Six minutes on, Chandan?s diagonal pass from the right was headed towards the goal by Shylo Malsawmtluanga. A lurking Paolo took a prompt attempt on the rebound, but Angam handled the ball on the goalline. The Brazilian striker slotted home the resultant penalty.
TEAMS
East Bengal: Rajat Ghosh Dastidar, Surya Bikash Chakraborty (Akshay Das 46), Debjit Ghosh, Selwyn Fernandez, Madhab Das, Syed Rahim Nabi, Shylo Malsawmtluanga, Douglas da Silva, Chandan Das (Sandip Das 83), Nitin Pradhan (Bijen Singh 36) and Paolo Roberto da Silva.
Army XI: Malay Paul, Anish Sharma, L. Angam Sangai, S. Ramesh, Syed Fareed, Thirunavukasaru (Vikas Gurung 58), Irudaya Raj, Johnny Gangmei, Ragho Kumar, Ngurneilal and Ramachandran (Narendra Rai 81)
Referee: Abdul Saleem.
Bagan to make one change
Mohun Bagan will make one change in their match against State Bank of Travancore (SBT) on Friday. Central defender T. Roopesh will replace Mehrajuddin Wadao.
Friday?s matches: Air India vs Salgaocar; Mohun Bagan vs SBT
