An all-Indian starting eleven for East Bengal took on the high-flying Jamshedpur FC in the Indian Super League on Tuesday night. The Red and Gold Brigade suffered a late blow as Ishan Pandita came off the bench to score his second winner in two games.
In his final match as the interim manager of SC East Bengal, Renedy Singh named an all-Indian starting eleven for the first time in the Indian Super League history. Furthermore, Singh, who will hand over the reins to Mario Rivera ahead of EBFC’s next game, named only one foreigner in the matchday squad – Darren Sidoel.
Singh’s brave decision to go without any foreign players nearly paid dividends too, but for a late Ishan Pandita goal that took opponents Jamshedpur to the top of the table.
East Bengal kept things tight since the beginning of the match. While Boris Singh Thangjam and Jordan Murray got behind the defense on a couple of occasions early on, the defenders got back quickly to deal with their threat. As a result, the Red and Gold Brigade restricted their opponents to opportunities from set-pieces, which they failed to take any advantage of before the half-time whistle.
Jamshedpur grew into the match after the break, just as East Bengal’s defensive superiority waned. Murray threw an early warning sign towards the Red and Gold Brigade when his looping header off a Greg Stewart flick on rattled the crossbar with Arindam Bhattacharya rooted to his spot.
In the minutes that followed, Arindam denied Murray from distance with a low stop. Murray, then, sent a volley narrowly wide of the far post as Jamshedpur kept edging closer to the opening goal.
The goal arrived in the 88th minute, sinking East Bengal hearts. Substitute Ishan Pandita, who, days earlier, had come off the bench to score the winner against NorthEast United, did the same against East Bengal as he nodded in a Stewart corner from close range.
With Jamshedpur in front, Arindam denied Murray the second goal in stoppage time as he clawed away the forward’s shot to safety. Nonetheless, one goal was enough for Jamshedpur, as they sealed all three points and climbed to the top of the table. East Bengal, meanwhile, remained rooted to the bottom and are still searching for their first win of the season.
