East Bengal victorious

On sunday at the Kanchenjunga Stadium in Siliguri, Kingfisher East Bengal revamped themselves to beat ONGC FC 2-1 in a Group C match of the 34th Federation Cup. Edeh Chidi and Manandeep Singh scored the winner for the red and gold brigade.

East Bengal, who were runners-up last season, salvaged a shaky start to prevail over a 10-man ONGC. ONGC started with a positive intent and impressed with quick movements and passing. They were impressive with their brisk runs using the flanks, developing numerous attacks through the wings.

And it was from one such movement from which they took the lead as early as in the ninth minute through Katsumi Yusa. The Japanese midfielder made the most of a sharp centre from right-half Sorabuddin Mollick and netted the ball.

East Bengal assembled themselves thereafter and succeeded in finding the equaliser and made it 1-1 in the injury-time of the first half. Chidi scored from a exquisite free-kick, curving the ball past the ONGC wall and beyond the reach of the goalkeeper.

East Bengal played with purpose in the second half of the match, putting immense pressure on ONGC with regular onslaughts. ONGC suffered a huge blow when Yusa picked up his second yellow card in the 78th minute and was sent off.

Reduced to 10 men, ONGC’s resilent defence came to an end when Manandeep Singh turned out to be a super-sub, replacing Subodh Kumar in the 73rd minute, as he struck the winning goal in the 82nd minute of the match and made it 2-1 in favour of EB.

East Bengal and Sporting Clube de Goa remained tied on top of the Group C table with four points each from two matches while ONGC were a point behind in the second spot.