I-League Media Team
KOLKATA: Eelco Schattorie picked Luis Barreto to start in goal for the Red and Golds while Leo Bertos starte on the left of midfield.
Khalid Jamil was in the stands as he was serving the first of his four match ban. Josimar and Abhishek Yadav led the line while Climax Lawrence started in midfield.
It was a dull encounter as a midfield scrap was all we got with neither teams making any inroads into the opposition half.
A half chance in the 28th minute was all the game had when it came to attacking opportunities. Leo Bertos had played Harmanjon Singh Khabra just outside the box with a lovely pass. Khabra controlled it well but his half volley went just wide off a diving Nidhin Lal in goal.
It was Jamil’s men who took an unexpected lead in the 33rd minute as Josimar converted a penalty by putting it into the top corner. It all came about after Khabra handled the ball in the box, following a Climax Lawrence freekick.
The second half could have got off to a rollicking start after Jayesh Rane almost got on the end of a long ball in the box but Robert Lalthlanumna recovered at the opportune moment.
The home side scored the equalizer from a similar freekick position. Robert swung it in from the right which Dudu headed in powerfully, to the right of Nidhin Lal.
Cavin Lobo came close to get the lead in the 65th minute after chesting down a diagonal from Ranti Martins. He took a touch to set himself up but his shot came off the crossbar, with Nidhin Lal well beaten.
In the 71st minute, Ranti was brought down by an advancing Nidhin Lal and the referee awarded a spot kick. The Nigerian himself stepped up but his weak shot saw Nidhin Lal parrying it away only for Dudu to completely scuff the rebound.
Mumbai FC themselves had a chance to win the match in the 78th minute after Rane broke down the left before playing it onto Taisuke Matsugae who had come on. The Japanese swiveled past two defenders before his shot towards the far corner was acrobatically saved by Luis Barreto.
The scoreline stayed the same as East Bengal’s winning run was broken.
Hero of The Match – Dudu Omagbemi
