HIGHLIGHTS
2ND HALF
90+4'
Krishnananda wins the ball in the box and this could translate into trouble for the visitor. Shahabaaz shoots, but the ball takes a deflection to fly out.
90' Five minutes have been added.
87' TRAU's Joseph Olaleye misses a golden chance to make the scoreline 4-3. He knocks down a flighted ball from Deepak Devrani, but the Nigerian shoots it just wide off the post.
84' DRAMA! Penalty awarded to TRAU now after Asheer Akhtar shoves Noucha Singh, who came in for Joel Sunday. Patrick Uche will be taking the kick (maybe, because Emeka missed an opportunity against Chennai City last day). He scores: finds the woodwork first, but the ball ricochets in to make it 4-2.
76' 4-1! It goes from bad to worse for the host as a handball from Patrick Uche awards East Bengal a penalty. Marcos Espada will be taking it.
AND YES! Espada scores his sixth I-League goal. Though Shayan Roy judged it right, the placement from the Spaniard was simply impeccable. History repeats as East Bengal, which had last played a match at this ground against NEROCA, had won that game 4-1, as well. But will they want to stop here? Guess not!
69'BRANDON GETS ANOTHER! Jimenez sends in a wonderful through ball to the young Mizo, who safely slots it home to get the insurance goal for the Red and Golds.
68'AIDARA MAKES IT TWO! Midfielder Kassim Aidara gives East Bengal the much-required spring in its step. A clever freekick from Perez finds the Senegalese in the box, who nods it home.
67' Freekick awarded to East Bengal from a dangerous position after young left-back Shahabaaz Khan takes down Mera from behind.
65' SO CLOSE! The ball just wriggles past the East Bengal forward line after Thapa sends in a wonderful cross from far left.
62' Kassim Aidara needs to be careful here. He is already on a yellow, but he pulls off a clumsy challenge on TRAU's Krishnananda. EB wouldn't want to see any of its players being sent off.
59' A challenge on Colado sees the referee pull out the yellow card for Loken Meitei. Almost immediately, gaffer Nandakumar Singh sends in Krishnananda Singh as substitute.
52' GOAL! East Bengal restores parity. An absolute Spanish spectacle: A forward ball from Mera, passed on by Espada to Colado, sees the striker go for an initially ordinary-looking shot. However, a deflection off Deepak Devrani sees Shayan falter and the ball rolls into the net. TRAU... Unlucky!
49' East Bengal trying to regroup from the back. Perez extends play to the right flank, passing the ball to Samad. The buildup is painfully slow. Whether the move will help the visitor remains to be seen.
1ST HALF
45'
Patrick Uche has come in for the injured Netrajit Singh. Added time: Two minutes.
44' Netrajit is down again and this time he has been carried away on a stretcher.
42' Failed attempt at the corner-kick again, TRAU's third today, as Sunday gets himself some elevation but fails to get his head to the ball at the far end of the post.
42' Wahengbam Luwang takes the freekick and it hits the wall to go out for a corner.
41' Joel Sunday appeals for a handball and a freekick has been awarded to TRAU from a very interesting position; Asheer Akhtar was the guilty party in this case.
39' YELLOW CARD: A very harsh challenge on Netrajit Singh by Kassim Aidara. Aidara, now booked, will miss the side's next game.
38' A through ball to Joel Sunday... Offside!
35' A nice buildup down the right channel from East Bengal by Ansumana Kromah. He sends it down to Brandon who sends in a flighted cross into the danger zone. An alert Shayan, however, lunges forward in time to collect the ball.
34' TRAU's holding midfielder alongside Luwang, Netrajit Singh steals the ball from Colado. However, East Bengal has averted the danger effectively.
33' A nice dummy there from Colado to let the ball roll down to Juan Mera, further down the right. However, Mera misfires.
30' Netrajit Singh, who got the start ahead of Uche today, tries to slot in an acrobatic volley from the right. However, he loses control of the shot mid-flight.
26' TRAU's Shahabaaz Khan's cross takes a deflection off Samad Ali Mallick. An opportunity to extend the lead has been denied.
24' An early substitution for East Bengal. Didika's injury has forced the management to call in Brandon Vanlalremdika.
18' Emekaaaaaa strikes! TRAU draws first blood. A long ball from Dinesh Singh finds skipper Emeka lurking in the box. The striker leaps up to nod it home. Poor goalkeeping from Ralte.
18' Asheer Akhtar clears Wahengbam Luwang's weak left-footed shot.
16' 56% possession for TRAU, which has got off to a confident start. It had solid opportunities to net the ball in on two occasions as well.
15' Didika's shot on target has been fisted away to safety by Shayan.
14' East Bengal heaves a sigh of relief after Emeka loses control of the ball inside the box.
10' Another corner kick for East Bengal; Didika to send the ball in this time. A fierce shot from Jaime Colado from outside the box sees Shayan Roy put up a diving effort. It will be yet another corner.
9' Princewill Emeka outwits the East Bengal defenders and sends the ball forward to an onrushing Moirangthem Meitei, but the former had misjudged the power on the shot. It goes out of play.
6' A telling touch from Nigerian striker Joel Sunday has been parried away by the EB keeper Lalthuammawia Ralte.
5' Juan Mera Gonzalez, East Bengal's mainman this season, to take the first corner for the visitor. TRAU's Moirangthem Meitei wins the ball and passes it on to Joel Sunday. Half a chance there for the host.
3' Lalrindika Ralte, who specialises in setpieces, all set to take the freekick for East Bengal. Unfortunately for the Red and Golds, the ball swings wide!
1' KICK-OFF! And we are already underway, ladies and gentlemen... Will TRAU take its revenge today?
MATCH PREVIEW
Tiddim Road Athletic Union (TRAU) FC will be playing host to struggling Kolkata giant East Bengal in the I-League today, looking to avenge its defeat in the away leg.
The solitary league meeting between the two sides ended in heartbreak for TRAU in Kalyani, with Marti Crespi scoring a late winner to deny the visitor its first league point.
East Bengal was top of the table back then while the league debutant was rock bottom but the tables have now turned and drastically so.
TRAU went on to forge a seven-game unbeaten run, which saw it rise to third in the table but has lost some steam following its capitulation at the hands of city rival Neroca, losing 0-5 in the return leg of the Imphal derby.
The host went on to lose 0-2 against Aizawl and played out a goalless draw against Chennai City.
However, the point they earned against the defending champion could be attributed to the sheer goalkeeping brilliance of Shayan Roy, who stepped in for Mithun Samanta and produced a few world-class saves in a game that could have otherwise seen at least three or four goals.
Speaking ahead of the game, Princewill Emeka, TRAU FC captain, said, “We need to get back to winning ways and we want to do that in front of our home crowd. Against East Bengal, it’s always going to be challenging no matter what position they are in on the table. We are wary of the challenge and we are ready.
“We did create a few chances against Chennai and they had chances of their own. It was an even game and we will be taking the positives forward and build on it in our next game,” he concluded.
East Bengal, on the other hand, went from being table topper to dropping to the relegation zone after losing five games since the turn of the year, but a win in its last match against Indian Arrows must have eased some pressure.
With a win over TRAU, the Red and Golds could rise to the fourth spot in the table.
East Bengal gaffer Mario Rivera Campesino reflected on the three points his side earned against the Arrows.
“A win always serves as a boost in confidence and motivation, so the three points against the Indian Arrows were very important.”
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