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SC East Bengal held on to a nail-biting 1-1 draw against Kerala Blasters at the Tilak Maidan Stadium in Vasco, Goa, on Sunday. It was an encounter that was marred by questionable refereeing decisions.
This is the third draw for the Red and Gold Brigade in the Indian Super League (ISL) this season. They are yet to win a match. SCEB are still languishing at the bottom of the ISL points table. Meanwhile, after three consecutive draws, Kerala Blasters are seventh.
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From kick-off, the Tuskers looked like the side on the front foot and in the 15th minute, they seemed to have taken the lead. Lalthathanga Khawlhring's shot rebounded off an SC East Bengal defender’s hand towards Alvaro Vazquez, who calmly slotted it home. However, the goal was disallowed after a discussion as the referee had already blown the whistle for the initial hand ball.
Although the Blasters seemed to have the upper hand, SC East Bengal drew first blood. Centre-back Tomislav Mrcela nodded home a Raju Gaikwad throw-in at the near post in the 37th minute.
Kerala replied within minutes. In the 44th minute, the Yellow Army equalized through Alvaro Vazquez. He cut inside from the left to take a shot that deflected off Gaikwad’s head and went into the back of the net.
In the second half, the game started getting a bit intense as both sides conceded silly fouls. However, there was one final twist before the final whistle.
Heading towards the final whistle, Kerala Blasters pushed forward in the hope of the winner. Substitute Jorge Pereyra Diaz headed the ball into the back of the SC East Bengal net from a freekick. However, the goal was ruled out as Diaz had pushed a defender before heading the ball, the officials opined.
Let's take a look at a few things we learned from the encounter:
#4 Antonio Perosevic turning into SC East Bengal's only attacking outlet
There are very few things that could be listed as positives for SC East Bengal this season. Antonio Perosevic and his performances are definitely right up there on that list.
The Croatian forward has turned into East Bengal's best and arguably only attacking outlet. He constantly keeps the opposition defenders on their toes with his mazy runs.
In the previous encounter against Odisha FC, Perosevic starred with a brace, although he conceded an unfortunate own goal too. Tonight, he carried his form as he kept running with the ball into Kerala's final third. He continued creating chances out of nothing.
#3 Jeakson Singh and Lalthathanga Khawlhring's duo turning up for Kerala Blasters
Manager Ivan Vukomanovic has proved himself as a pragmatic coach time and again this season. How he goes about his game is heavily regulated by how his midfield shapes up. Against a side that are superior on the ball, he prefers to have his two pivoting midfielders play almost like blockers ahead of the defensive line.
SC East Bengal don't have the technical midfielders to control the game. Hence, against them, Vukomanovic opted to push his two midfielders in the middle of the park, higher up the pitch.
But credit has to go to the duo of Jeakson Singh and Lalthathanga Khawlhring, who have executed the coach's plans to a T.
#2 Midfield problems intensifying for SC East Bengal
SC East Bengal head coach Manolo Diaz will be concerned that their midfield has consistently been outplayed in most games. Diaz has opted for multiple personnel changes, however, so far none of them seem to have done the trick.
East Bengal clearly lack a natural ball carrier in midfield, more precisely someone like Ville Matti Steinmann. There's also the absence of a natural destroyer in their setup. Hence not playing two defensive-minded midfielders has never been an option.
Catch the latest ISL live score here on Sportskeeda!
#1 Sketchy refereeing costing the image of the league
Yet again another ISL match has been marred by controversial refereeing calls voiced by Kerala Blasters players. Soon after the game, KBFC star Adrian Luna lashed out at the officials and the calls made during the game.
As described earlier, Kerala Blasters will be hard done with the decisions made in the game. Two of their goals were ruled out and there were plenty of other questionable decisions throughout the match.
But at the end of the day, it's not just individual ISL teams that suffer due to such a poor display from the officials. It's the entire image of the league that comes under question.
