East Bengal striker Bhaichung Bhutia nets the matchwinner ? his third goal ? against Sporting Clube de Goa in the National Football League match at the Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday. Picture by Santosh Ghosh

Calcutta: This was football as good as it could get.

In a scintillating display by both teams, with the ball moving from one end to the other across the Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday evening, East Bengal prevailed 4-3 over Sporting Clube de Goa in an eighth-round clash of the ONGC Cup for the National Football League (NFL).

Bhaichung Bhutia led from the front with three mind-boggling strikes and Syed Rahim Nabi chipped in with one as the visitors’ tremendous fightback was rendered ineffectual in arguably the most fascinating match of the NFL so far. Each time East Bengal went ahead, Hardeep Saini and Bibiano Fernandes made it all square, while in between, Edeh Chidi even made it 2-1 for a while . It was, thus, left to Man-of-the-Match Bhaichung’s final intervention to ensure that the good work he started in the 38th minute did not go unrewarded.

East Bengal, thus, moved up to second place provisionally with 15 points, whereas Sporting dropped to third with 13 points. Mahindra United are currently atop the standings with 19 points from seven games.

Saturday’s engrossing drama could be seen as a throwback to their previous NFL clash almost a year ago when the Goan outfit tamed the red-and-golds 3-2 at the same venue ? a result that marked the Goans' journey to the second-best finish and East Bengal's degeneration from the top position.

This was revenge as sweet as it could become.

Since then much water has flown down Bhagirathi, the most significant being the change of guard in East Bengal ranks from Subhas Bhowmick to their first foreign coach, Philippe de Ridder.

And it was indeed a bold step by the Belgian to keep Mike Okoro on the bench while opting for a 4-4-2 formation. Gouranga Dutta paired with Bhaichung up front, while the likes of Shylo Malsawmtluanga, Alvito D’Cunha, Ndem A.K. Guy Herve and Sasthi Duley manned the midfield to give the team plenty of offensive options.

The first manifestation of this came in the 13th minute when Ndem’s prompt shot saw Matthew Gonsalves blocking it on the goalline. Within a minute came the riposte from Sporting ? a thundering 20-yard shot from Dudu Omagbemi, which forced a diving save from Rajat Ghosh Dastidar. This truly set up the base on which the match was played, and swung back and forth throughout.

Twenty minutes later, Bhaichung scored, heading home off a perfect cross from Gouranga. If it was a clinical finish, Saini’s piledriver ? from about 25 yards out ? was astonishing a minute from the break. Rajat simply didn’t have time to react.

The East Bengal coach seen arguing with two club officials near the players’ arena during the break. It couldn’t be ascertained, but possibly the result was the introduction of Okoro and M. Suresh in the second half. The duo changed the complexion of the match in contrasting manner.

Before that, it was Chidi who silenced the crowd in the 55th minute when Suresh couldn’t clear a ball in the air and allowed the Nigerian, lurking behind, to finish the job easily.

Five minutes later, it was Bhaichung’s turn to set things in order. Gouranga again was the provider and Sporting defender Felip Gomes just about won the aerial battle with the India captain.

As the ball ran loose to Nabi, he wisely sent it back to his captain. Bhaichung turned and quickly delivered a punch that was too powerful for Felix D’Souza to stop.

Another five more minutes passed before Nabi rose to the occasion and headed home a Sasthi flag-kick. Soon after, Bhaichung earned a penalty, when he was pushed from behind by Nicolau Borges in the 72nd minute. The unselfish man that he is, Bhaichung allowed Okoro to take the spot-kick. The Nigerian missed it.

This must have wounded Okoro’s pride as he tore the Sporting defence apart with some scorching runs down the right. Just when it appeared that was enough to ruin the visitors' ambitions, Bibiano struck in the 86th minute.

Suresh again fumbled, more awfully this time, as Chidi moved up unchallenged to deliver the cross for Bibiano to finish.

But who could deny East Bengal a win with Bhaichung around? Within seconds, the brilliance in him flashed again. Okoro released the ball from right across the face of the goal and Bhaichung came from nowhere to tap in.

Bhaichung is now sharing with Ranty Martins the top-scorer’s chart with 6 goals.

Teams

East Bengal: Rajat Ghosh Dastidar; Syed Rahim Nabi, Covan Lawrence, Amandeep Singh (M. Suresh, 46), Anupam Sarkar (Dipankar Roy, 70), Shylo Malsawmtluanga, Ndem A.K. Guy Herve, Sasthi Duley, Alvito D’Cunha (Mike Okoro, 46); Bhaichung Bhutia, Gouranga Dutta.

Sporting Clube de Goa: Felix D’Souza; Matthew Gonsalves (Vincent Pires, 66), Suresh David, Felip Gomes, Nicolau Borges (Joe Rodrigues, 74), Hardeep Saini (Vinu Jose, 88), Adebayo Adewusi, Bibiano Fernandes, Joseph Perreira, Edeh Chidi, Dudu Omagbemi.

Referee: K. Shankar (TN).