Goa: SC East Bengal ISL woes continued as they lost 2-3 against Hyderabad FC in an exciting encounter at the Tilak Maidan in Goa on Tuesday (December 15). Aridane Santana scored a brace along Halicharan Narzary netting one while Jacques Maghoma scored both the goals for the Kolkata side.
Hyderabad Lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Odei Onaindia being paired with Chinglensana Singh at the heart of the defence. Hitesh Sharma along with Joao Victor formed a double pivot in the midfield. Aridane Santana shared the forward line alongside Nikhil Poojary and Narzary with youngster Mohammad Yasir playing as a no.10 behind them.
Both sides had the more or less same amount of possession on the ball however it was the home side who were making the most them their two wide men Narzary and Poojary were causing problems to the East Bengal defence.
The Red and Golds however against the run of play of the and created the chance which happened to be a historic one for them courtesy Maghoma who scored the first-ever goal for them in the history of this tournament. Anthony Pilkington held the ball up and near the opponent box before finding Matti Steinmann who completed his run into the box laying it off for Maghoma whose first-time low-driven shot went past goalkeeper Subrata Paul who could have done a bit better to save that.
Towards the end of the first half, chance came for the home side as Yasir was taken down by defender Sehnaj Singh in the box but Santana’s spot-kick was saved brilliantly by Debjit Majumder. Anthony Pilkington was probably the only shining star in a dimming performance from his side.
In the second half however, Hyderabad equalised as Santana in the 56th minute flicked a header from an accurate set-piece delivery before taking the lead in a blink of an eye when just under a minute after that, another attacking move was finished when Liston Colaco line-breaking pass found Santana who finished it off effortlessly.
The spirit and resilience of East Bengal was clearly broken in pieces. Hyderabad put the final nail in the coffin after Colaco made Scott Neville dance to the tune of his silky skills to find before finding the Narzary who tapped it into the net.
However, East Bengal got one back through Maghoma who headed it past Subrata again from a corner but it was a mere consolation. Robbie Fowler’s frustration continuesd as his side’s defence was once shattered to floor. Hyderabad now stands fifth place while East Bengal’s struggle continues at the bottom of the points table.
