Calcutta: The 8,000-odd spectators who had made it to the Barasat Stadium on Wednesday, despite the bandh, were witness to some entertaining and riveting football that saw East Bengal close in on their sixth consecutive Calcutta Football League title.
The 4-3 win over Kalighat MS was achieved with another superlative display in the second session that saw the red-and-gold brigade making a comeback after being 0-2 down at the breather.
East Bengal's forward line seems to have made a habit of such turnarounds, after negating a similar deficit against Army XI earlier in the Premier Division. If Christopher Chizoba's double strike had Kalight MS over the moon at half-time, their hopes were sent crashing down once substitute Ranty Martins pulled one back and Rahul Bheke equalised with a header in the first 15 minutes. Do Dong Hyun gave East Bengal the lead, but Kallol Paul soon restored parity with a 20-yard dipping shot.
When it seemed the match was headed for a draw, Abinash Ruidas came in with a brilliant strike that is sure to rank among the best this season. Dong's corner was fisted away by the goalie and as the ball ran loose from the melee, Abinash came up with a 30-yard left-footer that bulged the netting. The players were left stranded and it took them a while to realise what had happened.
Coach Biswajit Bhattacharjee compared Abinash's goal to "European standards", and felt the victory was the right catalyst before their clash against Mohun Bagan. East Bengal now have 22 points from eight matches, while Mohun Bagan have 11 from six.
If Mohun Bagan drop points versus Police AC on Thursday or East Bengal manage a point in Sunday's Derby, they will be crowned champions. East Bengal will thus equal the championship feat they achieved from 1970 to 1975.
East Bengal players even did a lap of honour, assuming they had virtually won the title. Biswajit, however, said that it was the players' way of thanking the fans who had stood by them all this while.
If the forward line's goal-scoring abilities brought relief to the East Bengal coach, the porous defence is sure to haunt him. Deepak Mondal's performance is sure to ignite a debate over his place in the side, while Bello Rasaq is still far from attaining full fitness. The Nigerian was pathetic in defence, lacking in speed and agility, and had to be replaced after 39 minutes.
Bello's ill-directed clearance was pounced upon by Chizoba who scored the opening goal as early as in the second minute. Every time Chizoba held onto the ball, there was panic in the East Bengal defence. Substitute Gurwinder Singh was no better, being sluggish in movement, and struggled to keep Chizoba at bay. He needlessly got into an argument with Chizoba after Harmanjyot Singh Khabra was pushed to the ground. Both players were lucky to get away with yellow cards.
If Ranty showed his opportunistic skills to pull one back off a Dong cross in the 49th minute, Bikash Jairu showed his skills with assists in the next two goals. The likes of Jairu and Abinash will also hold the key in Sunday's clash.
TEAMS
East Bengal: Luis Barreto; Rahul Bheke, Deepak Mondal, Bello Rasaq (Ranty Martins, 38), Saumik Dey (Gurwinder Singh, 46); Abinash Ruidas, Mehtab Hossain, Harmanjyot Singh Khabra, Mohammed Rafique (S.Malsawmtluanga, 59); Do Dong Hyun, Bikash Jairu.
Kalighat MS: Sourav Chakravarty; Ranjit Sau, Murazul Hussain, Ugo Godswill, Sukanta Banerjee; Goutam Thakur, Kallol Pal, Sayan Dutta (Kisan Bag, 73), Arijit Bagui; Christopher Chizoba, Mohammed Farid (Sukanta Mondal, 62)
Referee: Animesh Biswas
MoM: Abinash Ruidas
