ISL 2020-21, SC East Bengal vs FC Goa: Who won yesterday's match?

Ten-men SC East Bengal produced a 1-1 draw against FC Goa in the 49th match of the 2020-21 Indian Super League (ISL) at the Tilak Maidan Stadium in Vasco da Gama, Goa. Nigerian Bright Enobakhare scored a wonder goal for SC East Bengal but Devendra Murgaonkar cancelled the lead immediately.

FC Goa dominated the ball in the first few minutes and they didn’t need to wait long for the first opportunity. An inviting free-kick from Brandon Fernandes was met by a cracking header from James Donachie. However, Debjit Majumder came up with a diving save. If the ball had gone in, SC East Bengal would have been really disappointed as Donachie was way off-side.

With Robbie Fowler reverting to a five-man backline for this match, SC East Bengal were pretty compact except during a few set-pieces. At the other end, the Kolkata giants could have scored from set-pieces themselves. Aaron Amadi-Holloway was the first SC East Bengal player to get a chance but he went on to miss a header from Narayan Das’ superb free-kick.

A minute later, skipper Danny Fox missed a simpler chance when Raju Gaikwad’s enormous throw-in found its way to him. FC Goa’s defenders left Fox free in the box but he headed the ball wide from close range. As the half went on, FC Goa resorted to long shots but Debjit Majumder was up to the mark when Jorge Ortiz and Saviour Gama came up with fine efforts.

In the second half, Debjit Majumder made yet another save from a Jorge Ortiz long-shot. There was a turning point in the 56th minute as Danny Fox was sent off for a challenge on Alexander Romario. Fox did clear the ball but he went straight through Romario in his follow-through.

Despite going down to ten men, SC East Bengal almost took the lead after Matti Steinmann made a mesmerizing solo run. However, the German midfielder put the ball wide with just the goalkeeper to beat. Thereafter, the match slowed down for a while as both teams became a bit scrappy.

Nigerian forward Bright Enobakhare had almost gone missing after the first 15 minutes of the match but he came up with one of the best goals in ISL history. It was a goal to be savored for a long time as Bright dashed past four FC Goa defenders before slotting the ball into the net.

SC East Bengal didn’t get a lot of time to celebrate as Devendra Murgaonkar equalized for FC Goa two minutes later. Their defense got into complete disarray as Murgaonkar was left to head the ball past Debjit Majumder following a decent cross from Saviour Gama.

The ISL debutants could have retaken the lead soon enough as Aiban Dohling’s slip in a dangerous area let Surchandra Singh through on goal. A poor touch from Surchandra let Mohammad Nawaz get to the ball but the goalkeeper spilled it. Bright kicked the ball into the back of the net but the referee ruled it out for a foul by Surchandra Singh on Nawaz.

ISL 2020-21, SCEB vs FCG: Who was the Hero of the Match

SC East Bengal players could hardly believe it when teammate Bright Enobakhare scored. Courtesy: ISL

After scoring a goal like that, it wasn’t a surprise that Bright Enobakhare was named the ‘Hero of the Match’. SC East Bengal were struggling for goals in the early part of the season but this mid-season signing could spark a fantastic turnaround for them.

The former Wolves player wasn’t involved in the action for a while but he did show plenty of trickery to keep SC East Bengal’s game flowing. Just when the moment arrived, Bright scored his second consecutive goal in a manner that not many will forget soon.