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| Abel Hammond (left) celebrates with Yusif Yakubu at the Barasat Stadium on Thursday. A Telegraph picture |
Calcutta: As promised by new coach Phillippe de Ridder, there weren’t any miracles in East Bengal’s I-League match against Lajong FC at the Barasat Stadium on Thursday. There were some surprises though, like in-form Abel Hammond sitting on the bench or Beikhokhei Singh and Mehtab Hossain at the centre of the park or Srecko Mitrovic as a wide man on the right.
And the end result was a satisfying 3-0 victory, which was enough for the spectators to go into a party mood. There were flares in the stands, chants at the aisles and beaming faces and warm hugs in the dressing room. Three wins on the trot and the turnaround from the abyss of October 25 is happening.
Hammond, who came in place of a limping Bhaichung Bhutia in the 25th minute put the hosts ahead 10 minutes before half-time. The second came late, Hammond again in the 90 th minute and the third one was in the injury-time through Yusif Yakubu.
East Bengal on Thursday looked good except for an odd 20-minute in the second half when Lajong were all over the red and gold brigade. At that time, the scoreline was 1-0 and an equaliser would have changed the very complexion of the game.
Take this one for example. Marlanki Suiting, after running Nirmal Chetri ragged, had only Abhijit Ghosh to beat. Probably in the excitement of scoring a goal the young defender volleyed over. There were some more close shaves for the East Bengal defence but in the end, the inexperienced Lajong players failed to make it count.
Agreed that Beikhokhei and Mehtab were in their elements on the day but the man who stole the show was central defender Uga Okpara.
Not only did his presence gave the Mehrajuddin Wadoos and Chetris the much-needed confidence, his guidance also helped the young goalkeeper Abhijit Ghosh to have a relatively good day in office. Just the other day new goalkeeper coach Atanu Bhattacharya was saying how important it would be for a rookie goalkeeper to have a confident back-four. It seems that in Okpara, East Bengal may have found an answer to the defence riddle. Once in the first-half, when S Tuboi was all set to bang it home, Okpara came from nowhere and lunged himself to avert the danger.
Now about the goals.
Syed Rahim Nabi freed Hammond on the left and no Lajong defender bothered to close him down, the Ghanaian volleyed home past an onrushing Gumpe Rime. A brilliant build-up, which was executed with great flamboyance.
The second came when Lajong had parked themselves on the rival half for that elusive equaliser. Wailadmi Passah made a mess of a loose ball and Hammond who was lurking nearby went all the way into the Lajong territory and stabbed it home. The third came within a minute. Substitute Subhas Singh’s pass found Yakubu, whose volley crashed into the far corner beating Gumpe all ends up.
This was East Bengal’s biggest win in the ongoing I-League and with the league taking a break till early January, this would provide De Ridder with ample time to prepare for the next round of matches.
TEAMS
East Bengal: Avijit Ghosh; Nirmal Chhetri (Subhas Singh, 67), Uga Okpara, Mehrajuddin Wadoo, Govin Singh, Srecko Mitrovic (Alvito D’Cunha, 53), Mehtab Hossain, B Beikhokhei, Syed Rahim Nabi, Bhaichung Bhutia (Abel Hammond, 25), Yusif Yakubu.
Lajong: Gumpe Rime, Michael Bassey (Ronald Zothanzama, 82), Waildami Passah, Zohmingliana Ralte, Marlanki Suting, Niwan Gatpoh, Samson Ramengmawia, Daniel Bidemi (Anil Gurung, 57), Boithang Haokip (Laldingliana Khiangte, 78), Seikhohau Tuboi, James Gbilee.
Referee: Dinesh Nair
MoM: Uga Okpara