Goa: SC East Bengal’s climb up the table continued as they beat Bengaluru FC 1-0 at the Jahawarlal Stadium in Fatorda. The only goal was scored by Matti Steinmann, which settled the matter for the Red and Gold brigade. With this win, East Bengal registered their second victory in the tournament and move to 10 points after 10 games.
The match was important from the perspective of the league as both teams wanted to win for different reasons. East Bengal wanted to continue their unbeaten run and for Bengaluru, it was to avoid their fourth defeat on the trot. But a certain defensive masterclass from Robbie Fowler’s side has helped them register this victory.
The match started on a good pace as East Bengal were more of the dominating side in the first half. Bengaluru was finding it difficult as it seemed they haven’t re-grouped from what it was been in their last three outings.
The goal came in the 20th minute. After Narayan Das played a beautiful ball Steinmann and made a cool and calm finish to give East Bengal the lead. With an early advantage, East Bengal looked more threatening, with Jacques Maghoma and Bright Enobakhare making occasional darting runs but failed to capitalise on the chances.
Bengaluru looked good in the second half after they brought in Kristan Opseth but East Bengal keeper Debjit Majumder stood like a wall in front of the goal as he made as many as more than five saves in the game and stopped every other Bengaluru shots till the last whistle.
