I-League: Round 5 Review – Reality check for East Bengal

Overview

Photo Credit: WSG

Round five of the Airtel League turned out to be the highest scoring of this campaign so far as 17 goals were scored in six matches with only two teams managing to keep a clean sheet. High-flying East Bengal were in action for only the second time this season and the red-and-gold brigade were given a harsh reality check ahead of their historic AFC Cup semi-final second leg against Kuwait SC as they were beaten 3-1 at home by Dempo.

On paper, East Bengal remain clear favourites for the title but the result and performance against Dempo was a reminder that they can’t take anything for granted and must earn the right to play week-in-week-out. Some fans might disregard the Dempo game as a distraction before the crucial AFC Cup clash but in truth Arthur Papas exposed some tactical weaknesses of Marcos Falopa. More on that later in this piece.

East Bengal’s arch-rivals Mohun Bagan also suffered a defeat and the league table shows that the Mariners’ loss was more damaging as they remain winless after four games and continue to look an ordinary side in the absence of skipper and talisman Odafa Okolie. Sporting Clube’s Boima Karpeh made the most of the absence of Nigerian Echezona Anyichie in the Mohun Bagan defence to pile the pressure on Karim Bencherifa.

The job of Mohammedan Sporting coach Moshood Bola Abdulaziz is also not safe but the 3-0 win over I-League debutants Rangdajied United in Shillong will ease some of the pressure and the team will also be improved by the five players who will be loaned from IMG-Reliance.

With Bengaluru FC not in action, the top spot was up for grabs and it was Salgaocar who took the initiative as the Goan club got the two-goal victory that was needed to overtake the Bangalore club at the top. Salgaocar ended Mumbai FC’s unbeaten start to the season with a 3-1 win in Pune and the result was enough to keep them ahead of Pune FC despite the Red Lizards’ 1-0 victory against Churchill Brothers. Bengaluru, Pune and Salgaocar all remain level on points after four games each but the Goan side lead due to a better goal difference.

Like Mohun Bagan, defending champions Churchill Brothers are still without a win and now will hope that the return of Subhash Bhowmick as technical director becomes official soon because the squad is lacking both quality and confidence.

Sponsorless United Sports Club also could have gone top but only managed a 1-1 draw with Lajong in Shillong. Top scorer of the last three seasons Ranti Martins failed to score for the third straight game but the purple shirts will have their coach Eelco Schattorie back from suspension in the technical area for round six and their financial problems could also be eased thanks to IMG-R.

Results

East Bengal 1-3 Dempo; Mumbai FC 1-3 Salgaocar; Shillong Lajong 1-1 United SC; Mohun Bagan 1-2 Sporting Clube; Pune FC 1-0 Churchill Brothers; Rangdajied United 0-3 Mohammedan Sporting.

Game of the round

East Bengal 1-3 Dempo

Dempo coach Arthur Papas tactically outclassed East Bengal’s Marcos Falopa

On paper, no other I-League club can match the strength in depth of East Bengal’s squad but Dempo also have more than a decent group of players at their disposal. However the Goan outfit was always expected to make a slow start as the club are in transition following the end of a long and successful era under Armando Colaco. Dempo came into this game winless and up against a team that is making India proud at Asian level so they were not given much of a chance to even get a point.

But Australian coach Papas got his tactics absolutely spot on as Dempo got the better of East Bengal in the middle of the park with attackers Billy Mehmet, Jeje Lalpekhlua, Beto and Clifford Miranda also making key contributions. Falopa’s strategy of playing only two in central midfield wasn’t punished by Semen Padang but Papas’s Dempo side showed no mercy as they made the most of their extra man in the middle of the park and forced East Bengal into mistakes.

Dempo were full value for their early lead and would have been two up had Miranda been clinical. That missed opportunity could have come back to haunt them but East Bengal’s Edeh Chidi missed his spot-kick. Dempo have shown weaknesses in defence this season as Australian Simon Colosimo and Japanese Shinnosuke Honda are still getting used to Indian football but East Bengal couldn’t expose them as much as they would have liked. The red-and-gold brigade had decent possession in and around the Dempo box in the first half but were let down either by their final ball or finish.

In the second half, East Bengal paid the price of a couple of mistakes. First Abhijit Mondal failed to collect a Miranda corner which allowed Beto to make it 2-0 and then no East Bengal midfielder showed responsibility to fall back and stop a Dempo counter attack. It forced Uga Okpara to make a last-ditch tackle and give away a penalty with the Nigerian also getting sent off. With ten men at 3-0, there was no way back for the Kolkata giants but they showed character to pull one back and finished with a flourish.

Overall Dempo deserved their win, the first in the I-League under Papas while the East Bengal coach got a better idea of where he has been going wrong in recent matches. For statistic lovers, it was also the fourth straight game in Kalyani which East Bengal failed to win. Maybe they should stop playing their home I-League matches there.