East Bengal continues to dominate, goes top with Pailan win

Kolkata giants East Bengal went to the top in the I-League table as they beat the comparatively younger and inexperienced Pailan Arrows 2-1, the Arrows failing to take advantage of 10-man East Bengal today at the Kalyani Stadium. While Churchill’s bad performances in their last two matches closed the gap between them and East Bengal, East Bengal’s win over Pailan Arrows keeps the pressure on Churchill, who are right now in second position, with 38 points from 17 matches. East Bengal are now on top of the league table with 39 points from 19 matches. Pailan remain in 9^th position in the league table, with 19 points from 18 games.

East Bengal’s fourth foreigner Andrew Barisic got the opportunity to start, but could not able to impress at all. Pailan Arrows took the lead in the 2^nd minute of the match. Alwyn George scored the goal from a long throw ball by Vishal Kumar. It was his second goal in this season so far. 5 minutes later, East Bengal got a penalty, and Chidi did not fail to convert it. It was his 19^th goal of the season, and his 14^th in the I-League. The score line became 1-1.

East Bengal attacked the most in the first half. In the 14^th minute, Chidi got a chance to earn his team the lead, but failed to capitalise, as his header was superbly saved by the Pailan Arrows custodian. The Pailan goal-keeper made some crucial saves throughout the match, as otherwise it is quite sure that the score line would have been different. In the 22^nd minute, Chidi’s shot flew over the post. Andrew Barisic, though failing to impress, took a 31^st minute strike from midfield that surprised the Arrows’ goalkeeper.

The very next minute, Lalrindika Ralte extended the lead for East Bengal with a close range volley from a deflected pass from Edeh Chidi. In the 44^th minute, a scrabble for the ball almost gave an Arrows player a chance to equalize, but it did not materialise.

Pailan changed their tactics in the second half as they were seen to play a more passing style of football. In the 48^th minute, Pronay Halder’s shot straight went to Abhijit, who gathered it comfortably. In the 58^th minute East Bengal were so close to get their third goal, but failed to do so as Subodh kumar and Chidi both got the opportunity to score but could not beat the Arrows’ defense. The East Bengal coach replaced his three men in quick succession, as he brought Manandeep, Mehtab and Penn Orji in place of the unimpressive Barisic, Subodh Kumar and Cavin Lobo respectively.

East Bengal missed some half chances in the second half. In the 69^th minute Penn failed to convert a free header from Naoba’s cross. Lalrindika Ralte went for his second in the 72nd minute, but his shot flew over the post. In the 74^th minute, there was chaos in the Pailan box between Manandeep and Pronay Halder. Manandeep took him down, and as a result the referee showed Manandeep a red card and gave him his marching orders.

In spite of getting a chance to play against 10-man East Bengal for 16 more minutes, Pailan Arrows failed to equalize. They created a genuine goal-scoring chance in the fourth minute of injury time, but failed to covert.