East Bengal 4 ( Edmund, Ajjarry-2, a penalty, Miguel) Sporting Club Delhi 1 ( Augustin).
East Bengal in a fast-paced manner, Miguel and Ajjarry lead to a dominant win over Delhi
East Bengal 4 ( Edmund, Ajjarry-2, a penalty, Miguel) Sporting Club Delhi 1 ( Augustin)
Sanchita Chatterjee, BS News Agency: This is a different East Bengal. The red and yellow brigade has never started their ISL campaign by winning the first two matches with dominance from the beginning. After defeating North East United 3-0 in the first match, they won 4-1 against Sporting Club Delhi at Yuva Bharati Stadium in the second match. Youssef Ejzeri scored 2 goals including a penalty. He is proving his worth by scoring 4 goals in 2 matches. The other two scorers are Edmund Lalrindika and Miguel Ferri. After this performance, the red and yellow fans can dream big about the ISL.
East Bengal coach Oscar Brujon deserves credit for that. He has run the East Bengal team like a well-oiled machine in both matches of the current ISL. Oscar replaced Kuadrat after losing the first three matches of the ISL last season. However, he did not have a good start either. He lost 2 matches in a row. Since then, East Bengal has slowly started to turn around under Oscar's leadership. However, the loss was so great in the beginning that the ISL did not produce the expected results. Even in the current season, despite the glimpses of good play in various tournaments, or even reaching the final stage, the East Bengal senior team has not won any trophy in Oscar's time.
But this time, looking at East Bengal's brilliant performance in the first 2 matches of the ISL, there is no hesitation in saying that Coach Oscar has organized the team well by using the right footballers in the right places. Schemers like Miguel Ferreira were in the team. Miguel was also impeccable in the role of midfield marshal against Delhi. Whenever he attacked, the Delhi defense was in a state of panic. Miguel won the hearts of the fans by scoring and assisting goals himself.
Another person needs to be mentioned in particular. He is Youssef Ezzeri. The fact that this Spanish striker was in the goal was evidenced by his biography. After joining East Bengal, Ezezari, wearing a red and yellow jersey, scored 4 goals in 2 matches and proved that he did not leave his goal-scoring boots at the old club, but came with the new one. That is why the organizers chose the goal machine Ezezari as the man of the match.
Augustin Lalrochna surprised everyone by scoring a goal in the 4th minute to give Sporting Club Delhi the lead. Taking a long pass from Mohammed Aymen, he accelerated down the right edge and entered the East Bengal box. Augustin, with a quick step, beat defender Jay Gupta and sent the ball into the net with a corner shot past Anwar standing in front.
However, Delhi could not hold on to that lead for long in the face of the red and yellow's fierce attack. East Bengal equalized in the 8th minute. With a world-class goal by Edmund Lalrindika. Rafael Ribeiro headed the ball out of the box when Bipin's free kick fell from the right. Edmund, who replaced Sol Crespo, did not let his loose ball fall high outside the box. He curled a dazzling right-footed volley from 20 yards into the corner of the second post. The shot was so powerful that even the Delhi goalkeeper could not stop it from going into the goal.
After regaining parity, East Bengal went on the attack with even more ferocity. Yousef Ejzeri scored his second goal from the penalty spot in the 12th minute, bringing joy to the red and yellow camp. As he entered the box with the ball, Clarence Fernandez tripped him from behind. Referee Crystal John did not hesitate to award a penalty in favor of East Bengal.
In the 27th minute, Ejzeri received a ball picked up by Miguel in the middle of the box. Only the helpless goalkeeper was in front. Ejzeri's header went straight into the hands of goalkeeper Vishal Yadav.
After Yousef Ejjajri's second and the team's third goal in the 40th minute, the red and yellow supporters knew that victory was in their hands. Ejjajri beat goalkeeper Vishal Yadav with a controlled shot inside the box from Miguel Ferreira's extended through ball.
Even then, Delhi coach Thomas Khus, who worked as Kibu Vicuna's assistant at Mohun Bagan in the I-League, did not deviate from his philosophy of playing attacking football. A half-chance of a goal came in front of Delhi. In the 44th minute, East Bengal goalkeeper Prabhusukhan Gill blocked a powerful shot by Manoj Mohammed, foiling Delhi's goal attempt.
Although East Bengal continued the attacking pressure in the second half, they could not increase the number of goals as Nandakumar, who returned to the match after a long time, wasted an easy opportunity. Rather, satisfied with getting 3 goals, East Bengal footballers spent a little more time in their own half, which gave Delhi the opportunity to counterattack. Rafael Ribeiro had two opportunities to head the ball into the East Bengal box but failed to put it into the net.
On the other hand, in the 94th minute, Miguel snatched the ball from Delhi's midfield, dragged it into the box and sent it into the net with a powerful left-footed shot.