CFL 2019: Jaime Santos brace helps East Bengal register dominating win over Aryan

East Bengal thumped Aryan 3-0 in the Calcutta Football League (CFL), courtesy of a brace from Jaime Santos and another from Lalrindika Ralte at their own backyard on Wednesday afternoon. 

The scoreline could have been more embarrassing for Aryan but for their keeper Sayad Abdul Kadir who made numerous saves throughout the match. 

Alejandro Menendez made five alterations to the side that beat Behala SS 2-1 in their last outing. There were three changes in defence as Samad Ali Mallick, Manoj Mohamed and Asheer Akhtar were reinstated in the starting line-up. In midfield, Kassim Aidara got the nod ahead of Tomdomba Singh, whereas Boithang Haokip replaced Marcos De La Espada in the attacking third.

It was a slow start to the match as both teams started with caution. East Bengal were dominating possession but lacked creativity in the attacking third. Chika Wali was marshalling Aryan’s defence with aplomb and the likes of Jaime Santos and Boithang were kept in check for the majority of the first half.

Just before the half-hour mark, Aryan’s Emmanuel had to be substituted after the attacking midfielder suffered an injury. This prompted coach Debashish Nandy to shift to a 4-5-1 from a 4-4-2 formation with Kuti Ademola as the single striker.

In the 39th minute, East Bengal had a sniff of goal when Samad burnt his pace to show a clean pair of heels to his marker before setting up Bidyasagar Singh with a square ball. The home team could have gone ahead if the striker had got a touch on the ball.

But the Red and Golds did not have to wait for long for the first goal as Lalrindika Ralte pierced the net in the 43rd minute. Manoj put in a low cross from the left flank which was received by Brandon near the far post. The right-winger pulled it back for Ralte who made no mistake to put the ball at the back of the net by pulling the trigger at the first instance.

East Bengal continued their domination in the second half as well. They started utilising the right-wing with more efficiency as Samad and Brandon were combining well in the wide areas.

In the 61st minute, Menendez’s men doubled their lead through Santos. The Spaniard played an exquisite give-and-go with substitute Ronaldo Oliviera which tore apart Aryan’s defence. In a one-on-one situation with goalkeeper Kadir, the 24-year old kept his calm and slotted the ball in the right bottom corner to hand his team an insurance goal.

East Bengal further tightened the noose and could have scored two more goals in the next 10 minutes but for Kadir who denied Bidyasagar and Samad from close range in quick succession.

In the 89th minute, Santos scored East Bengal’s third with a brilliant finish from outside the penalty box. Oliviera was fouled inside the box but the referee chose to carry on with the match as the loose ball fell for Santos. The former Sporting Gijon B player took his time and then rifled a shot beyond the reach of Kadir to seal the match for East Bengal.

East Bengal will return to action on Sunday against arch-rivals Mohun Bagan in the Kolkata Derby at the Salt Lake Stadium.