I-League 2018-19 : 3 Reasons why East Bengal lost to Aizawl FC

A game filled with fouls, scuffles and lots of goals did not go in favour of East Bengal as the bottom of the table side Aizawl FC pulled off a disciplined team effort to down the visitors 2-3 in the I-League on Saturday.

Aizawl FC went ahead through Leonce Dodoz early in the 25th minute. East Bengal pushed for the equaliser and was rewarded with a goal from Jobby Justin in the 62nd minute.

East Bengal scored again after eight minutes through Borja Perez to go 2-1 ahead. Aizawl FC equalised after three minutes of play as Zoherliana capitalised on Ubaid's mistake to restore parity.

East Bengal were handed a shock as substitute Lalkhawpuimawia put the game to bed in the 83rd minute to win it 3-2 for the hosts.

What exactly went wrong for Alejandro Menendez and his team? How did Gift Raikhan tactically overcame the East Bengal juggernaut? Sportskeeda brings out the top 3 reasons why Aizawl FC were simply the better side today.

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#1 Shaky and undisciplined East Bengal Defence followed by Ubaid's mediocre performance

Even after getting on board the Defensive Duo of Johnny Acosta and Borja Perez, the East Bengal back-line was far from palatial.

The Spanish-Speaking duo gave too much space for the African Duo of Ansuamana Kromah and Leonce Dodoz to exploit. Right back Manoj Mohammed also struggled to keep out Zohmingmawia at bay.

Kromah did find the back of the net on two occasions but the Red and Golds were saved by the flag at the far side indicating offside.

East Bengal's troubles at the back added on as Ubaid spilt a simple ball from a corner and allowed Zoherliana to score.

Such complacency at the back has invited a lot of criticism of the defenders and the goalkeeper from the fans and analysts alike.

#2 Clear Goal denied by the Linesman

Even though the Red and Golds were way off-colour today in the game with several miss-passes and lack of coordination in the midfield, they could have managed to steal one point from the game if the referees were on point.

East Bengal were denied in clear goal in the 40th minute when Lalramchullova's pin-point free-kick from outside the box rattled the crossbar and went at least a yard inside the goal-line as Aizawl's Gurpreet watched on.

The main referee Rosario Fernandes failed to get the view of the ball inside the box, so did the linesman at the far side, Ricky Marshal Synnah. The Linesman had a clear view of the ball going in but decided to not award the goal to the trailing side.

The ball bounced back into the play but the on-rushing forwards Enrique Esqueda and Jobby Justin took too much time to sort themselves out and missed the best chance to go level in the first half.

Such, complacency and indiscipline from the referees throughout the years in Indian Football have raked up various debates to improve refereeing in the games.

The introduction of Video Assistant Referee (VAR) in several countries can also be an alternative to resolve the aggravating crisis.

#3 East Bengal kept on missing chances in front of goal

After a delightful spell of two matches for the Winger and retreating striker Enrique Esqueda, the Mexican has seen a sudden drop of form off-late.

He has been creating a good number of chances for the other players but seems to have lost his scoring boots.

Esqueda squandered several chances in front of goal, few of them being ones set up for him on a plate but lacked finish.

He was too late to react after Lalramchullova's free-kick in front of an empty net. Gurpreet Singh also squandered few easy saves which allowed Esqueda to bang the loose balls into the net but he took too much time to sort himself and placed it off-target on most of the occasions.

Jobby Justin has been scoring lately but he also did miss few half chances in front of the goal. Such shambolic finishing allowed the Aizawl FC defence to grow in confidence and they did hit East Bengal hard in the second half.