KOLKATA: Seconds before
East Bengal
coach
Alejandro Menendez
asked substitute
Bidyasagar Singh
to get ready to replace
Boithang Haokip
, the sight of a few bottles being hurled from the stands wouldn’t have escaped his attention. Their Durand Cup opener against Army Red was tied goalless after 77 minutes and the Spaniard’s much-anticipated ‘homecoming’ looked to be headed for a disappointing finish.
But in a span of six minutes, Bidyasagar changed the complexion of the game, scoring one and setting up another as East Bengal calmed the impatient fans’ nerves and handed the coach a winning start this season.
The revival started with a mistake from an Army player, whose intended back pass slowed down before reaching goalkeeper Muhammad Shanoos P. As Bidyasagar swooped on the opportunity, the Army goalkeeper came out of his box and tried to pull the East Bengal striker down. Referee Venkatesh R waved play-on as Bidyasagar got back on his feet quickly but failed to deliver the coup d’etat as an Army defender cleared the ball.
One ‘advantage’ was lost but another resurfaced as the referee flashed marching orders to Shanoos P and awarded a free-kick to East Bengal on the edge of the box. Army coach had to sacrifice forward Liton Shil to bring in substitute goalkeeper Chandra Bahadur Tamang. The latter, however, could only watch as Jaime Santos’ perfect and pin-point free-kick found the back of the net in the 84th minute.
Six minutes later, Bidyasagar was again in the thick of action, tapping in right-back Samad Ali Mallick’s minus to make it 2-0 and break Army’s resistance.
Unlike last season, when East Bengal’s first home match of the season was washed out by a heavy downpour, the red and golds didn’t have to negotiate rain. But the hard, uneven turf often came in the way of the team’s fluidity as Army Red exerted pressure early on, forcing two smart interventions each from centre-backs Borja Gomez and Mehtab Singh.
East Bengal were also unlucky in the first half when a Jaime free-kick and a Boithang attempt were denied by the woodwork.
As Army Red retreated to a more defensive mould after the break, looking to catch the hosts on quick counter-breaks, the home supporters grew impatient. Alejandro reacted by unleashing Kassim Aidara and Pintu Mahata.
The duo injected a fresh thrust in the attacking third. Then came Bidyasagar and turned the game on its head with his two quick impacts, much to the delight of Alejandro and the fans.
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