Bangalore: A first half strike by James Moga followed by another goal in the second half by Edeh Chidi helped Kingfisher East Bengal Club halt Bengaluru FC’s unbeaten run at home. The Kolkata giants beat the Bangalore outfit 2-0 win in the 15th Round of the Airtel I-League at the Bangalore Football Stadium on Sunday, to take their tally to 18 from 11 matches.
Despite this loss, Bengaluru FC continued to lead the points table with 27 points from 14 matches.
East Bengal’s South Sudanese striker gave the visitors the all important lead in the 17th minute of the match, when Bengaluru FC’s goalkeeper Soram Poirei, playing his first match of season was caught off position. Porei, who was signed by the club, last week from Pailan Arrows came outside the box as Moga dribbled past him to put the ball into the empty net to the delight of the 250-odd East Bengal supporters, who had come to support their team.
East Bengal’s second goal came completely against the run of play in the 79th minute of the match. Chidi received the ball in the left side of the box and made no mistake as his left footer from an acute angle was too good for Porei to seal the three points for the visitors. With this victory, East Bengal became the first team to beat Bengaluru FC in both the legs. In the first leg at Kalyani, East Bengal had won the match with an identical score line.
Despite starting as the underdogs, the East Bengal defence really proved to be the main difference between the two teams. Skipper Harmanjot Singh Khabra, who was also awarded the man of the match, stood tall in the defence in the absence of Uga Opara, who missed the match due to an injury as the Red and Gold brigade managed to keep the dangerous striking duo of Sean Rooney and Sunil Chhetri at bay.
On the other hand, James Moga and Chidi made the most of whatever opportunities they got up front. Bengaluru FC defence really missed the services of John Johnson, who was suspended for the game after he had picked up four yellow cards in the league so far. Without Johnson, the Bengaluru defence was caught napping at more than one occasion.
However, the hosts were also unlucky as quite a number of times they came close to scoring a goal. In the 25th minute, Sean Rooney’s header hit the cross bar.
In the second half, it was the hosts who dominated the proceedings right from the start, but again failed to find the net. In the 58th minute, Siam Hangal’s terrific right footer hit the far post, while two minutes later, Sean Rooney’s shot that seemed headed towards the goal, was brilliantly saved by East Bengal keeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu.
Sandhu too had a good game under the goal as he saved his team quite a number of times during the game.
