I-League Preview: East Bengal – Sporting Clube De Goa

Kolkata giants East Bengal host league leaders Sporting Clube De Goa in an eighth round I-League encounter at the Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata later this evening.

Get It Right…

At the start of the league, one wouldn’t have imagined East Bengal on the fifth position with a mere nine points from seven matches. While one may point that nine points isn’t bad in a league where one has to battle for every little thing, it’s certainly a poor showing by the Red and Gold’s.

East Bengal coach Stanley Rosario pointed that his team has lost just two games and haven’t played bad football. But the point is that they haven’t played good enough as well and so have drawn against teams where they could have won. Their wins have come against a ‘totally Indian’ Chirag United and bottom placed Vasco SC. Nothing much to cheer about for their fans.

They lost Edmilson Marques and have been given the permission to replace him by the Indian FA. That would give them some hope but to depend on a player who is to arrive and straight away start scoring goals is an out and out foolish thought. It undermines the players they currently have and puts additional pressure on the man coming in.

The midfield of East Bengal has been woeful to say the least and every match there has been some shuffling around which hasn’t helped either. Some of their players are in poor form and are being picked purely on their names.

Let The Show Go On…

No one wants the good phase of life to pass and hopes that such days or moments continue forever.  Same is the situation with Sporting Clube De Goa as they wouldn’t want their good run of form to end in the coming weeks. Slowly and gradually, the Flaming Orange have managed to get the desired results without much fuss.

Coach Vishwas Gaonkar believes in winning the game and not a very good friend of ‘sexy football’. They have strategized for each game and so far, it has gone in their favour except against Churchill Brothers SC.

Their last visit to Kolkata wasn’t the best with Joseph Pereira scoring the winner against Chirag United in the last 15 minutes. This campaign has seen various success stories for Sporting. Striker Junior Elijah is making a mark in Indian football alongwith Luciano Sabroza who has fitted into the team very well.

Form Guide

East Bengal

November 7 East Bengal 1-1 Mahindra United (I-League)

November 2 Mohammedan Sporting SC 0-0 East Bengal (I-League)

October 25 Mohun Bagan 1-1 East Bengal

Team News

Renedy Singh is out of the game after sustaining a calf muscle injury during the warm-up session in the last weekend’s game against Mahindra United. Surkumar Singh remains a doubtful starter with an ankle pain. Alvito D’Cunha and Mehtab Hussain are fit and back in contention. Mehrajuddin Wadoo is also fully fit after hurting his shin bone against Mahindra United. Skipper Wilton Gomes and Micky Fernandes are suspended for the game.

Key Areas

East Bengal needs to make their home advantage count and take on Sporting Clube De Goa from the start. Having quality players does them the advantage however, Sporting are cheeky customers and now how to get their way in the game. Masters of counterattacks and making the most of a couple of chances that come their way; they could make East Bengal pay for any laziness at the back. The absence of Micky and Wilton could play a key role.

Key Players

Sunil Chhetri: The Indian international did show some signs of top form in the last outing and shall look to build on that. Junior Elijah: With five goals, Junior’s confidence is high and shall look to score a few in Kolkata.  

Rahul Bali.