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East Bengal and NorthEast United traded punches for the entire game and played out an entertaining 3-3 draw at the Salt Lake Stadium on Wednesday, February 8.
The game was end-to-end in the opening exchanges, with the Highlanders targeting the right flank. Parthib Gogoi found space and delivered two dangerous crosses for Kule Mbombo, who missed both opportunities.
It came back to bite as the Red and Gold Brigade took the lead in the 10th minute. After some neat one-touch passing on the left side, Jerry Lalrinzuala’s delivery found Cleiton Silva, whose powerful header beat Arindam in goal.
However, the visitors turned the tie around in a chaotic five-minute spell. Parthib was once again in the limelight as his thunderous strike from the edge of the box found the net in the 30th minute. Three minutes after the goal, the Highlanders caught East Bengal off guard again, with Jithin MS finishing off an excellent move to make it 2-1.
The hosts were certainly shell-shocked but appeared to have regathered their spirits when Jake Jervis scored from an acrobatic volley towards the end of the half. The nail-biting first half had a few mistakes from both sides, but four brilliantly taken goals.
East Bengal and NorthEast United share the spoils
Both sides started the second half with high intensity, but East Bengal took control of the proceedings. Naorem Mahesh Singh was heavily involved in their buildup and delivered a few key passes for the likes of Silva and Jervis.
Their pressure paid off as the Brazilian striker was deemed to have been fouled by Alex Saji in the penalty box. He stepped up to the task and converted the penalty to score his 12th goal of the season.
NEUFC pushed for an equalizer, and Romain Philippoteaux came close around the hour mark. But the Highlanders persisted and were rewarded when the two substitutes combined to tie the game at 3-3. Imran Khan’s movement caught East Bengal’s defenders out as he met Gani Nigam’s cut back from the right flank.
The Highlanders continued to push forward and had a couple of excellent opportunities to snatch all three points. However, they failed to take their chances in stoppage time.
The end-to-end game unquestionably had fans on the edge of their seats and ended with both sides scoring thrice. However, with this result, East Bengal’s playoff hopes are all but over, while Vincenzo Annese will be content with NorthEast United’s impressive attacking display.
