ISL 2022-23: East Bengal head coach Stephen Constantine dedicates team's win over BFC to Joy Sankar Saha

East Bengal Head Coach Stephen Constantine chose to pay tribute to Joy Sankar Saha, a loyal fan of the Red and Gold Brigade in the wake of the team’s ISL 2022-23 win over Bengaluru FC at the Kanteerava Stadium on Friday (November 11).

Speaking to the media after former Bengaluru forward Cleiton Silva had helped his team down the home side 1-0, Constantine had the following to say:

“I’d like to mention Joy Sankar Saha, who passed away a couple of weeks ago. He leaves behind a wife and young daughter, and this win is for him.”

StephenConstantine

@StephenConstan

We are deeply saddened to hear about the sudden passing away of Joy Shankar Saha, who was one of our loyal supporters. On behalf of the club and players, I would like to express our sincere condolences to the family and friends of Joy. Gone too soon.

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We are deeply saddened to hear about the sudden passing away of Joy Shankar Saha, who was one of our loyal supporters. On behalf of the club and players, I would like to express our sincere condolences to the family and friends of Joy. Gone too soon.🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷

“They did not have an answer for us” - Stephen Constantine on East Bengal’s win over BFC

In what was mostly an evenly-contested game, East Bengal came away with the win having defended well throughout the game and created some wonderful chances on the counter. It was one of these chances in the end that led to Bengaluru’s downfall, after Naorem Mahesh Singh mugged Suresh Wangjam in the Blues’ half before squaring for Cleiton Silva to calmly place into a nearly-empty net.

Constantine was visibly pleased with East Bengal’s performance on the night, suggesting that Simon Grayson’s side did not have an answer for them. He also made sure to lay emphasis on the fact that his side are not just a counter-attacking team either. He added:

“Few people say that we are only a counter-attacking team, but I thought we had more chances than they did in both halves. They did not have an answer for us. But like I said, we are a work in progress. We will continue to work hard and get better.”

“But I don’t think we are just a counter-attacking team and we showed that today and we showed that against ATK Mohun Bagan and against FC Goa in the second half, and against NorthEast United FC too. We haven’t been destroyed by anybody and I will say that in most of the games, we beat ourselves due to our own mistakes. And today we didn’t, so I am pleased with everybody.”

While the win sees them leapfrog Bengaluru FC and Jamshedpur FC, it will be interesting to see how much of a difference a win like this would make to East Bengal in terms of momentum. Constantine believes these three points are massive but we’ll have to wait till they take on Odisha FC on November 18 to see what it translates to.

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