I-League 2017: East Bengal vs Shillong Lajong, 5 Talking Points

East Bengal registered their first win of this year's I-League campaign after thrashing Shillong Lajong 5-1 at the Barasat Stadium in Kolkata. In the process, they inflicted Lajong's first defeat this season.

Laldanmawia Ralte scored a brace while Eduardo Ferreira, Mahmoud Al-Amnah and Katsumi Yusa also got on the scoresheet to send the East Bengal fans into delirium after a commanding performance.

Here's what stood out from the game:

#1 Under pressure East Bengal start with urgency

It has not been the best starts for Khalid Jamil after his high-profile move to East Bengal as their new coach. They were without a win in their first two games and had suffered a defeat in the Kolkata derby last week to Mohun Bagan.

Facing the current table toppers in Shillong Lajong, East Bengal showed the urgency of a side under pressure. They've been very patchy in the first two games and instead of opting to play it cautious, they took the game to Lajong from the get-go. And it worked for them - two goals inside 20 minutes gave them just the start they were looking for.

And they never really let up until the final 15 minutes to make sure that there was no way back. This was the sharpest we've seen East Bengal this year. Jamil came under fire from sections of supporters as they shouted "Go back" to him during one of the training sessions. This resounding win will no doubt ease a lot of the pressure and also give the fans much optimism as to what this team are capable of.

#2 Arnab Mondal returns to the side

The Arnab Mondal saga seems to have come to an end.

The India veteran had not featured in East Bengal's first two games this season and his absence from the derby last Saturday was particularly telling. Whether reports of a clash of heads with coach Jamil are to be believed or not, clearly something was up that led to Mondal not featuring.

He returned to the team today as captain no less. He displayed his usual solidity in defence, often in place to help out with a clearance or key tackle such as when partner Eduardo Ferreira on one occasion in the first half saw Lajong get behind him and move into a threatening position in the penalty box.

It will be intriguing to see if this return means that he's back in the reckoning for the rest of the season.

#3 Al-Amnah destroys Lajong with great support from Ralte

Amna got East Bengal underway. (Photo: I-League)

The Syrian midfielder, roped in by Jamil from champs Aizawl FC, really imposed himself in this encounter and was one of the key drivers in this emphatic win.

Jamil made a slight tweak to his team's shape as he opted to play his Syrian midfielder a little further forward and on the right. This allowed East Bengal to get the most out of Al-Amnah's best qualities - his excellent ball control which makes him tough to dispossess and powerful running that can beat defenders.

The threat was evident very early when he burst through in the 10th minute only to see Plaza mess up the chance. The eventual breakthrough came from a similar run that the Lajong defence could not pick up. He was so effective in breaking the lines on a regular basis that East Bengal were always within sniffing distance of a chance.

Couple with that his excellent passing in this game, as evidenced by his beautiful through ball for Laldanmawia Ralte's first goal, and he was simply unstoppable. Two goals and an assist make him the Player of the Match in this one.

Ralte, getting the nod today over Brandon Lalremdika, also was impressive. His mazy runs discombobulated the Lajong defence. He scored two and won the penalty that led to East Bengal's fifth. On the strength of this performance, the battle between Brandon and him for that spot will be keen to watch.

#4 Great day for East Bengal, but Plaza's struggles continue

Willis Plaza needs to find his form soon. (Photo: I-League)

It might have been 5-1 to East Bengal at the end of 90 minutes, but their striker Willis Plaza didn't score any of the five goals. Neither did he set up any of them. If anything, he was guilty of not scoring at least two.

The Trinidadian has received much flak for the way he's started this season and it continued in this game despite his side romping their way to a crushing victory. As early as the 10th minute, Mahmoud Al-Amnah's run created a great chance for East Bengal, but Plaza was too slow to react and allowed the defenders to tackle before he could either attempt a shot or lay it off to Laldanmawia Ralte who was completely unmarked.

His control in the box was found severely wanting as he allowed the defence to recover after his team had gotten into some good positions.

His form was the only sticking point on what was an otherwise superlative display.

#5 Lajong suffer first defeat

Shillong Lajong suffered their first defeat of the season. (Photo: I-League)

After two wins from two, Shillong Lajong were brought crashing down to earth by East Bengal's performance this evening. The away side were simply dominated in this encounter as the home side did not give them an inch.

Lajong barely had any attacks of substance in the first half and fewer still in the second. The physicality of East Bengal really did cause problems for Lajong and their young players today and they will want to quickly forget this result and start afresh.

This was going to be the true test for Lajong after they had beaten relatively smaller teams in their first two rounds. It was a test they failed, but they are a young side. Their very young captain scored a consolation goal late with a well-taken free-kick and Lajong will hope that this young group continues to progress through the season.