It’s that time of day again. It’s also Friday which is a bit of a Brucey Bonus! I am of course referring to report o’clock as we take a look back at East Bengal’s clash with Mumbai which took place yesterday. Now, I don’t want to come across as one of those arrogant twats who always rubs it in when they’re right BUT it doesn’t happen all too often, so as per, I am going to milk the moment.
You Thought Lucca’s Goal Was Good…
Don’t get me wrong, this one wasn’t as much of a good shout as the one from the Jamshedpur game, nonetheless, I said East Bengal would qualify and that they did. The I-League side were made to do it the hard way though as Achille Emana’s set-piece put the ISL side in the driving seat with little over twenty minutes on the clock.
Lucca’s freekick was special against Shillong, this one for me, was even better. There’s no logic or reason behind that decision of mine, but it’s what I’m sticking with and there’s nothing you can do about that! Sahil Tavora won the freekick after some neat footwork and once Emana lined up to strike the ball, there was only ever going to be one outcome. Off the post and in. Pingin’ hell.
Mumbai taking the lead was against the run of play and it was no surprise that East Bengal levelled in next to no time. Some good wing-play down the right-hand side which was coupled with a sweet delivery meant that Yusa Katsumi just had to head it home. I’ve said that like it’s nothing and I shouldn’t have because Katsumi leapt like an absolute salmon to reach the ball and the header was nothing short of impeccable as well. A very well-worked, thoroughly deserved equaliser.
When halftime arrived, it was East Bengal who were well and truly in the ascendancy and in the second period of normal time, it was more of the same as the I-League looked the more likely of the two. Katsumi stung Amrinder’s palms as East Bengal were banging on the Mumbai door. With seventeen minutes remaining, they finally got what they were after.
Rocket Shot Is An Understatement
Amrinder kept out the first shot but he could do absolutely nothing about the rebound from the Egyptian, Mahmoud Al Amnah, it had that much power behind it that if there wasn’t a net there and it someone, I think it might well have killed them. It was that hard.
Mumbai rallied towards the end of the game, but there were no real chances of note for the Islanders as Alexandre Guimaraes’ side bowed up the competition with a bit of a whimper, if the truth be told. We heard from both coaches after the game, we’ll begin with the victorious East Bengal gaffer, Khalid Jamil:
“The match was very good. We were lucky to get two goals. Everybody worked hard and Amnah scored the winning goal. We played as a team.”
I’m not too sure what happened here but it seems like Khalid is just going through a list of things to say and not worrying about whether they make sense next to each other. Meh. In the other dugout, Guimaraes suggested that he may have seen a few things that he liked in the East Bengal ranks.
“We played a very good game. East Bengal took advantages of two situations that they had and they converted. Congratulations to East Bengal for the win.
Now with this tournament, we can have an idea about other players who play in the I-League. It has been a very interesting experience, a learning experience,”
You have to feel the outcome would’ve been different if Mumbai had the likes of the Santos’ to call on. On the other hand, East Bengal can only beat what was put in front of them and they did exactly that. They now face Aizawl in the last eight which I believe is on Sunday, don’t quote me on that.
Until the next time.
