East Bengal 2-0 HAL Bangalore - Red and gold made to work hard as bottom team loses yet again

East Bengal defeated strugglers HAL Bangalore by a scoreline of 2-0 at the Salt Lake Stadium in a round 16 I-League encounter.

The first half saw HAL surprisingly overpower the Kolkatans with RC Prakash coming closest to scoring with a stunning volley.

The Bangalore boys seemed to run out of steam midway through the 2nd half, as East Bengal drilled their way through in the 65th minute with a headed goal by Saumik Dey.

There were further problems for HAL in the 89^th minute as the Red and Gold Brigade eased past the Bangalore based side’s defense and Penn Orji wrapped the game up for the home side.

Coach Trevor Morgan opted to start with Tolgay Ozbey and kept Edmilson Marques on the bench, just like in the previous game against Pailan Arrows. Sanju Pradhan was given the captain's arm band and given the license to roam in midfield. Orji Penn and Mehtab Hossain were given starts as well, keeping in mind the long injury list at East Bengal.

HAL started the game bottom of the table with 3 points from 3 draws so far this season. Manager Muralidharan opted to play a 4-5-1 formation with Hamza as the lone striker up front. Goalkeeper P. Pramod was the captain.

The Garden City Boys made a confident start to the game, keeping possession and pressing hard causing problems to Uga Okpara in East Bengal's defense.

The first real shot on target fell to East Bengal’s leader Sanju in the 9th minute. His attempted cross was dipping straight into the top corner, which Pramod comfortably tipped over the bar for a corner.

HAL had more of the ball, but lacked creativity and failed to take any opportunities. Against the run of play, the Kolkata side created another good chance in the 12th minute as Orji drilled the ball just wide from long range.

HAL custodian Pramod had two heart-in-the-mouth moments as he came rushing out of the box to clear long balls aimed at target man Tolgay. On both occassions, he had to be helped out by his defense.

The best chance of the first half fell to Bangalore veteran RC Prakash whose stunning volley had to be punched away by East Bengal keeper Gurpreet Singh in the 20th minute.

HAL were happy to pick up the misplaced passes by the Red and Gold Brigade as pressure continued to increase on Trevor Morgan and the home side’s defenders with HAL striker Hamza pressing well.

In the 38th minute, Tolgay and Orji linked up fantastically but to no avail as East Bengal struggled to make an impact in the attacking third as HAL still looked the hungrier of the two sides.

At half time, the teams went into the dressing rooms goalless and the Garden City boys certainly didn't look like the team that had conceded 39 goals in total during the season. East Bengal, on the other hand looked nothing like a side placed 2nd in the I-League.

As the 2nd half kicked off, HAL piled on the pressure as Hamza's header was just cleared off the post for a corner. That was to be the away side's last meaningful opportunity as East Bengal clicked into gear from then on.

KhanThang Paite was taken off in the 51st minute and replaced by Sushant Mathew. Hamza's theatricals were also there for all to see. The struggling striker kicked and shoved at the medical team carrying the stretcher to take him off the field.

One could sense that an inevitable goal for the home side was in the offing as Mehtab Hussain failed to cross into the box after a wonderful run to receive a cross. In the 65th minute, Tolgay played a through ball for Sanju who crossed perfectly for Saumik Dey, the full back, to head in. It was 1-0 and certainly looked like game over for the away side as they seemed to run out of steam.

Tolgay Ozbey was replaced by the returning hero Edmilson Marques in the 77th minute. There were a few more dangerous attacks to come for the home side as Sanju, Edmilson and Orji Penn combined perfectly to cause trouble in the HAL defense.

The final knock out punch came in the 89th minute for HAL. Edmilson muscled his way into the box past Bijoy Das and unselfishly passed to Orji who tapped the ball from 2 yards out into the open goal. It was 2-0 and game over.