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East Bengal FC held Mohammedan SC to goalless draw despite being down to nine men in the Indian Super League.
Dimitrios Diamantakos of EBFC in action in Second Half against MSC during match held at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata, on 9th November 2024.
East Bengal FC held Mohammedan SC 0-0 In the 2024-25 Indian Super League at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata on Saturday.
The Red and Gold brigade held the Black Panthers for close to an hour with nine men in the Kolkata derby.
It was the Black and White brigade with the first attack of the game, that too from kick-off. Carlos Franca had unfortunately stayed off-side.
Mohammedan continued their attacks but moreover looked comfortable in possession. All of the good work almost came to nought in the 6th minute when 31-year-old debutant goal-keeper Bhaskar Roy somehow swiped the ball from Nandhakumar Sekar off a back pass.
Naorem Mahesh Singh came to the rescue of East Bengal with a last-ditch tackle but was booked by the referee in the seventh minute.
In the 12th minute, Dimitrios Diamantakos had a golden chance to give East Bengal the lead after a cross from Saul Crespo but the Greek forward’s effort sailed over.
Diamantakos was brought down just beyond the penalty box, despite what replays showed a free-kick was awarded in the 21st minute. Mahdi Tala stepped up and an acrobatic save from Bhaskar kept parity in the scores.
Amarjit Singh, brought back into the playing XI by Andrey Chernashov, was doggy in mid-field and appeared resolute in his challenges. He was mostly on the bench last season at East Bengal before his move to Mohammedan. His tussle with Souvik Chakrabarti was just the curtain-raiser for the ram that was going to follow.
Amarjit and Nandhakumar tussled for the ball just before the half-an-hour mark. A tug or more of the shirt had irked the East Bengal star such that he lashed out immediately and his wild swing of his arm caught Amarjit in the face. Blood flowed as the referee was surrounded by both sets of players, clamouring for justice.
Harish Kundu showed Amarjit a yellow for his indiscretion and then turned to Nandhakumar. Another flash of red and East Bengal players and fans were left shocked. Their own had been sent off.
Naorem did not take the decision well and lashed out by kicking away the bottle of water that he was drinking from. The action caught the attention of the fourth official and a second yellow card followed.
East Bengal were down to 9. The game though was not over.
Gaurav Bora, Lalremsanga, and Mirjalol Kasimov tried their luck but Prabhsukhan Singh Gill’s defence remained unbreached.
After the restart, Mohammedan Mafela and Cesar Manzoki replaced Alexis Gomez and Amarjit.
The numerical advantage continued as the likes of Bikash Singh and Franca had good chances but the Red and Yellow brigade stood tall. The fact that the Black Panther had most of the possession and had to create the chances instead of relying on counter-attacks, meant East Bengal had the advantage despite missing two bodies on the field.
There were more changes as Makan Chothe came on for Remsanga, while Jeakson Singh and Cleiton Silva replaced Souvik Chakrabarti and Talal.
Substitute Mafela was replaced by Mohammed Irshad as David Hmar came in for Diamantakos. Yet the scoreline remained unchanged.
As the final whistle blew there were fireworks in the stands in celebration of East Bengal’s first point of the season.
