Welcome to Sportstar's ISL 2020-21 blog of the SC East Bengal vs NorthEast United FC clash that takes place at the Fatorda Stadium on Tuesday.
That's all we have for the night. We will be back again tomorrow with Odisha FC vs Mumbai City FC [ PREVIEW ]. Until then, it's good night.
REPORT |
Khalid Jamil "Very happy to get 3 points and now we are thinking about next game against Kerala. [Phil Brown asks him about when he will lose the interim tag?] No, we are only thining about next game and the credit goes to the players becuase they are working hard. [Was goal difference on the mind?] We were thinking only about just three points and not the goal difference."
Post match comments to follow..
NEUFC makes another giant stride into the playoffs by moving into the fourth place. And it didn't need to call upon Federico Gallego's services tonight. Eight unbeaten games for Khalid Jamil now. After an unspiring first half, NEUFC came out pressing hard and it was rewared early in the second half with a goal through Suhair. Then it was fortuitous through an own goal by Sarthak, which proved to be the difference in the end.
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FULL-TIME
90'+4' Brown breaks down the right side and into the box to play in a cutback across the face of goal but Mirshad sticks his hand out to make a crucial save!
90'+4' NEUFC SUB: Suhair OFF, Britto ON
90'+2' CHANCE! Yumnam heads high from close range after Holloway's flick on header from a cross.
90'+2' Fox with a crucial clearance after Angou did well to make space for a cross from the right.
FIVE MINUTES OF ADDED TIME
86' GOAL! Sarthak redeems himself by pulling on back for East Bengal! From a free-kick, Surchandra swings in a cross, which Sarthak leaps high to nod it past Subhasish, who ran out of his line to completely make a hash out of it.
85' Surchandra with a rasping drive from outside the box and was swinging but Subhasish does well to catch the ball.
80' Holloway sets up Sarthak on the right with a first-timepass but Sarthak can't get his shot away on time and has his effort blocked.
78' SCEB SUBS: Rafique, Jeje, Jairu OFF; Ankit, Angou, Narayan ON
76' WATER break called.
76' Free-kick by Surchandra is straight towards Subhasish, who punches it away.
75' Jeje wins a free-kick down the left side of the corner flag.
73' NEUFC SUB: Imran OFF, Lalrempuia ON
72' Machado blazes his free-kick over the goal.
71' RED CARD! Gaikwad is shown a second yellow after he brings down Brown, who looked to turn away from him and into space behind him.
70' Rafique goes into the referee's notebook for a foul.
67' Imran picks the ball in his own half and dribbles past SCEB players before looking to play in a through ball for Brown. But he can't get the pace on the ball right.
65' SCEB SUB: Haobam OFF, Yumnam ON
64' Imran with a superb ball into the box and Sarthak this time gets his clearance right.
63' Suhair knocks down a header from a long diagonal across the face of the goal but his teammtes dont make the run forward in ancticipation.
60' SCEB OFF: Chhetri OFF, Surchandra ON
55' GOAL! From defence to attack and NEUFC has a 2-0 lead thanks to a Sarthak own-goal. NEUFC breaks forward on the right where Nim plays in a cross into the six yard area and Sarthak's sliced clearance goes into the back of the net.
53' SAVE! Lalengmawia with a defence-splitting pass to find the run of Brown, who has the beating of his markers but is thwarted by Mirshad as he comes out to close down the angle.
50' Mirshad calms ghings down at the back as East Bengal defneders fail to deal with a bouncing ball inside the box.
48' GOAL! There is the goal for NEUFC and Suhair squeezes the ball into the corner of the net. Imran picks up the ball from the left, drives doward and finds the run of Suhair. The winger takes a touch to the left before placing it past the onrushing Mirshad.
46' NEUFC kicks off the second half from left to right.
SECOND HALF
A second-string East Bengal has made life difficult for NorhEast United, which is keen to get the three points tonight. East Bengal ended the half stronger as it looked threatening from corners and long throw ins. NEUFC lacks creativity in the final third and would be desperate to get Gallego on the pitch in the second half.
HALF-TIME
45'+4' Lambot with a crucial interception to take the ball away from the run of Jeje, who was readying himself to take a shot on goal.
45'+1' Poor from Neville as he clatters into Imran and shove the player down. He gets booked for that and will miss the final match of the season.
Three minutes of added time
45' Yellow card for Gaikwad for stopping in his tracks before taking the throw.
44' Poor giveaway by Lakra outside his box but Haobam can't find Jeje inside the box with his cross. Gaikwad readies himself for a long throw in.
40' Machado with a freekick from the right to find Fox's run at the far post but the delivery is a touch heavy and is out of play.
37' Camara with a professional foul on Ajay Chhetri just as the midfielder looked to release an East Bengal player on the break. No yellow card, however.
35' Freekick called in favour of NEUFC after Rafique clatters into Imran Khan.
31' Water break is called.
30' Pinball inside the East Bengal box but the 'home side'is bailed out by an offside flag against Brown.
29' Corner for EB and Steinmann heds it down low but lacks the power and precision. Subhasish collects it on the line.
27' Corner at the other end where the ball strikes an East Bengal player and looked to be creeping into the corner of the net before Mirshad dived low to stop it.
26' Rafique looks to get in his cross into the box quickly but it's nowhere near an East Bengal man. Subhasish, unaware, pushes it behind for a corner. Rafique volleys a strique on goal from the corner but Lalengmawia blocks it with his body.
23' Holloway is frustrated after he looks for a one-two with Jeje on the edge of the box but he doesn't get the return.
20' Suhair with a long-range drive from the right side and Mirshad does well to dive to push it out. The ball lands at the feet of Machado but he is denied the space to get his shot away.
19' Machado plays in a ball into the feet of Brown, who goes down while looking to turn away from his marker. He asks for a penalty but the referee is unmoved.
15' Nim Dorjee swings in a cross along the face of goal which Mirshad gets down to but ends up splling it. The ball goes behind for a corner. The danger from the corner is averted.
11' Steinmann with a superb diagonal along the floor to find Rafique down the right. The right wingback's cross to meet Holloway's run is a bit heavy and off the mark.
9' Imran dinks a ball over the defence for Machado's run but Mirshad comes out quickly to get on the end of it before the Portuguese.
6' Lalengmawia with a well-struck volley from outside the box but it finds the body of an East Bengal player and is blocked.
5' Suhair looks to play in Brown behind the defence but the pass a deflection off a EB defender for a corner.
3' Machado again at the heart of NEUFC's attack as he slips in a through ball for Brown, who under pressure manages a toe-poke towards goal which Mirshad saves.
1' East Bengal kicks off from left to right. Machado drives down the left flank and hooks in a cross into the six yard area which is cleared out of danger.
FIRST HALF
7.24 PM: Both teams make their way out to the middle.
6.50 PM: One change for NEUFC from the 3-3 draw against Chennaiyin FC last week. Ashutosh Mehta makes way for Nim Dorjee. Federico Gallego returns to the bench.
6.40 PM: EIGHT changes for East Bengal. Only Steinmann, Sarthak and Gaikwad are retained from the XI that lose 1-3 to ATK Mohun Bagan. No Bright, Pilkington, Fox and Maghoma in the matchday squad. NorhEast United will fancy its chances of taking the three points here against a second-string East Bengal XI.
6.30 PM: The team news is in
SC East Bengal XI (5-3-2)
Mirshad Michu; Mohammed Rafique, Sarthak Golui, Scott Neville, Raju Gaikwad, Bikash Jairu; Ajay Chhetri, Haobam Singh, Matti Steinmann; Aaron Holloway, Jeje Lalpekhlua
NorthEast United FC XI (4-2-3-1)
Subhasish Roy Chowdhary; Nim Dorjee, Benjamin Lambot, Dylan Fox, Provat Lakra; Khassa Camara, Lalengmawia; VP Suhair, Imran Khan, Luis Machado; Deshorn Brown
6 PM: Here's how the two teams could line-up.
SC East Bengal predicted XI (5-3-2)
Subrata Paul; Ankit Mukherjee, Sarthak Golui, Daniel Fox, Raju Gaikwad, Narayan Das; Sourav Das, Jacques Maghoma, Matti Steinmann; Anthony Pilkington, Bright Enobakhare
NorthEast United FC predicted XI (4-2-3-1)
Subhasish Roy Chowdhary; Ashutosh Mehta, Benjamin Lambot, Mashoor Shereef, Provat Lakra, Khassa Camara, Lalengmawia, Federico Gallego, VP Suhair, Luis Machado, Deshorn Brown
5.45 PM: PODCAST - In the latest episode of Sportstar's 'The Full Time Show', Odisha FC's Rohan Sharma and Raj Athwal take us through their former head coach Stuart Baxter's comments, their decision to let him go and the larger problem of trivializing sexual violence in the sporting world.
Follow Sportstar's full coverage (Latest news, Interviews, Features, Points table, Quiz, Videos) of ISL 2020-21 .
MATCH PREVIEW:
NorthEast United SC will be bringing all its arsenal together to get the better of SC East Bengal when the two meet in a 19th round match of the Indian Super League (ISL 2020-21), at the Fatorda Stadium on Tuesday.
The Highlanders have a realistic chance of making it to the play-offs and need the full quota of points to remain in the hunt. SC East Bengal, which is recovering from the setback of
losing the second Kolkata derby against arch rival Mohun Bagan in the previous outing, has nothing left to play for besides pride.
SC East Bengal, which made its transition to the ISL from I-League this season, failed repeatedly in the business end of the tournament and crashed out of the title contest. The side's performance in the last six matches show where it faltered – the attack. It managed just 13 shots on target which has been the reason behind it scoring just five goals in six matches.
SC East Bengal assistant coach Tony Grant believed that his boys will be able to show their true quality when they face the Highlanders. “To play for this club, you have to be able to roll your sleeves up. It is a great test for our boys to show us their quality,” he said.
With nothing left to fight for in the current season, Grant said the match will be a good test for his team ahead of the next season. “A lot of these players had not played ISL and the jump is a huge jump. From day one, we had an eye on next year. And it’s really important that every club does that,” he said.
Grant congratulated his opponent for being more consistent in the season. “I think they (NorthEast United) are great. I think they started the season really well and looking at their recruitment, they have got a good blend of youth (and experience) in their team. They are in the top four and they deserve to be up there. It’s going to be a big test for our lads. And that’s the best time you will get to see what your players are made of,” Grant added.
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NorthEast, which has shown great improvement under interim coach Khalid Jamil, has remained unbeaten in the last seven games. The key area of its improvement since Jamil took over has been the attack which has scored an impressive 14 goals. The Highlanders just need to keep up the tempo and net the maximum points in the remaining two games.
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“We concentrate on our game tomorrow and then will think about the last game against Kerala Blasters. Tomorrow is a very important game for us,” said NorthEast United’s assistant coach Alison Kharsyntiew.
“We have to play very well. We have to defend well, we have to attack well, we have to create chances and then utilise them and give our 100 percent. This is a game we cannot take easy. We have to show character and give our best throughout 90 minutes and hopefully, we will get three points tomorrow," Alison added.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The seventh edition of the Indian Super League got underway inside a bio-bubble in Goa on November 20.
The tournament, spanning over four months, will see 11 teams play each other in a league and playoff format across three venues. Following the inclusion of SC East Bengal, this season will feature 115 games, up from 95 last season.
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