Kolkata: Head thrown back, Dimitrios Diamantakos sucked in air looking like he couldn’t believe what had happened. Winner of the golden boot last season, Diamantakos has cut a frustrated figure after East Bengal signed him from Kerala Blasters this term. The 31-year-old Greek has scored three goals, 10 less than what he had managed last term. It could have been four had Saul Crespo laid it up for him. It would still have been okay had Crespo scored after an intelligent run to meet Nishu Kumar’s accurate free-kick. But the Spaniard slid it and stabbed out.
That was in the 55th minute. Three minutes later, Richard Celis had latched on to Lalchungnunga’s raking ball over the defence and was one on one with Chennaiyin FC goalkeeper Mohammad Nawaz. The Venezuela international had flickered after joining in the winter window but with faint hopes of making the top six on the line and with East Bengal down 0-2, he shot out. And buried his head in his shirt.
Daniel Chima Chukwu completed East Bengal’s misery with a sucker-punch in the 98th minute ending his run of 13 matches without a goal. That the goal came as East Bengal had moved up and from a deflection following a free kick for the home team completed the nightmare, one that ended with Lalchungnunga seeing his third red card of the season. This was their heaviest defeat at home in ISL.
There are many reasons why East Bengal have had another underwhelming season in the Indian Super League (ISL). Injuries to key players, lack of depth in the squad, starting with six successive defeats would be some of them. Lack of sharpness and poor decisions in front of goal would be another. Saturday was the eighth match where they couldn’t score. They had more than double the number of attempts but it was Chennaiyin FC who won 2-0 to keep alive play-off hopes.
The first came in the 13th minute when East Bengal failed to track Connor Shields’s run down the middle after freeing Wilmar Jordan out wide. If Greg Stewart is the epitome of final third skill in ISL, his Scottish compatriot Shields typifies the effort every coach would want from their players. Missing Souvik Chakrabarti with a suspension, East Bengal couldn’t deal with Shields in the midfield.
This time, Shields went around Prabhsukhan Gill and kept the ball in play which Nishu Kumar sliding in deflected into his goal.
It was 2-0 in the 21st and this time it came from Jordan Gill. Chennaiyin FC showed they have a thing for finding Colombians who can make an impact. In 2015, it was Stiven Mendoza who now plays for Club Leon in the Mexican top tier. It is Jordan Gill, who has scored nine of their 26 goals, this time. Had his red card against Kerala Blasters not been rescinded, Jordan Gill would not have been available. He ended the night with a goal and an assist.
Irfan Yadwad showed the sort of desire East Bengal lacked, especially in the first half. He tracked back to help right-back PC Laldinpuia and contributed to the attack. In the 40th minute, Yadwad first denied Diamantakos near his penalty area and running down the flank, won a corner-kick. It was his assist that Jordan Gill converted. “We were repeatedly caught out on the left flank in the first half,” said East Bengal coach Oscar Bruzon after the match.
East Bengal changed that with a reshuffle in the defence. But not being able to take their chances and then being hit on the counter made it another frustrating season. After 19 matches, they have 18 points. Meanwhile, Chennaiyin FC, known for late resurgence under Owen Coyle, live on 21 from 20.
