Kolkata: Two successive Durand Cup titles had made the Salt Lake stadium a happy hunting ground for NorthEast United. But on Monday, and without their talismanic goalscorer Allaaedine Ajaraie, they found East Bengal too hot to handle in what was the Indian Super League (ISL) season opener for both teams.
The first round of matches have not yet finished but with the 3-0 win – the biggest margin of victory five matches into the season – East Bengal have shown that after years of underwhelming performance, including six defeats to start 2024-25, their time to be back among Indian football elite may have arrived. With a high line, high press and a bench that should serve them well in this short season, East Bengal won their first match in ISL for the first time since joining the competition in 2020-21.
Spanish striker Youssef Ezzejjari started his red-and-gold career with goals in the 65th and 70th minutes before Miguel Ferreira made it 3-0 in 90+1. All goals came from the left where Bipin Singh, Jay Gupta and then PV Vishnu put in a good shift.
In front of 18,636 fans, East Bengal’s best moments in the first half came when Redeem Tlang had inverted into the midfield. The right side of NorthEast United’s defence had been their target of attack from the off and when space opened up, head coach Oscar Bruzon’s men were not going to pass up the opportunity. Miguel Zabaco nearly turned the ball into his goal in the 35th minute trying to keep Bipin Singh’s cut-back from getting to Ezzejjari. From the corner-kick that ball was cleared only as far as Mohamed Rashid thudding into the horizontal.
Tlang, once used to playing higher up the pitch, did move up into the midfield again but by then, the skillful Brazilian Ferreira was ghosting into areas no rival team would want him to. His ball from the left was met by Nandha Kumar running in but the wide right, getting a start after a long time and because Mahesh Naorem is injured, couldn’t keep his 39th minute header on target. Nearing half-time, East Bengal looked like they had warmed up. Ezzejjari’s brace was proof. How East Bengal will hope that they have found in the Spaniard an efficient striker.
East Bengal have had their share of problems once it was decided that they would play India’s top tier league in 2020-21. No team in the short history of the competition have had to build a team from scratch three times like East Bengal which is why they have always finished between ninth and 11th.
It’s taken a while and a willingness to spend which got Bipin Singh, Anwar Ali, Jeakson Singh, Nandha Kumar and Edmund Lalrindika among others. Used in central defence as Bruzon decided to use his attacking options, Jeakson Singh’s strong run down the middle led to the first goal. Jeakson Singh found Bipin Singh who cut inside, shifted to his right foot and delivered a cross that Ezzejjari met rising from a defensive sandwich to put the home team ahead.
It was Lalrindika’s poise that fetched the second and this time it was after Ali had moved into the midfield. Lalrindika would score for fun in the I-League but things had been different once he moved up a rung. On the opening night, Lalrindika waited on the byline before finding the Spaniard who stabbed home. Not long after that Lalrindika slid and just missed redirecting PV Vishnu’s pass. He also tested Gurmeet in NorthEast United’s goal but by then the good night had got better because Ferreira’s shot arrowed into the far corner after Vishnu set him free.
