East Bengal faced bottom placed Chennai City FC in their bid to consolidate the top spot in the I-League. The match ended 3-0 in favour of the home side but the scoreline failed to depict the actual story of the match.
It was a clash between two teams on the opposite ends of the table but the performance from the visitors was superior to that of a bottom placed side. The first 45 minutes belonged to the away side as they made merry in the East Bengal half. It was their lack of quality upfront that impeded their goal scoring chances.
Chennai City FC had the fillip
It was not an impressive performance from the table toppers and surprisingly, the visitors dominated the proceedings. East Bengal influential central midfielder, Mehtab Hossain didn’t play and his absence was palpable. Consequently, the central midfield seemed disoriented and Rowlin Borges was largely inconspicuous.
The gritty central midfield duo of Chennai City of Dhanpal Ganesh and Denson Devadas got the better of the Bengal giants’ midfield with their effective snatching and blocking. The distribution from the central midfield of Chennai City was impeccable as the passes found the strikers in plenty of space.
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But the home defence were up to the task as they enforced their man marking strategy to funnel the attack seamlessly. Ivan Bukenya cut out the long balls with his towering presence while Gurwinder Singh checked the runs with his imposing physique.
Hapless East Bengal in the first half
The final pass from the likes of East Bengal’s Lalrindika Ralte, Wedson Anselme or Nikhil Poojary was devoid of any quality. Consequently, the away side pulled their wing-backs back and increased numbers in their box. A compact defence did not allow any time to the likes of Robin Singh or Wedson Anselme to shield the ball and thread the final pass.
It was a toothless attack as compared to the close-knit defence of Charles Raja’s team. Whenever the Kolkata team lost possession, Chennai City would press forward with one or two quick passes and let their strong strikers run amock in the attacking third. The poise of the away side must have taken the Red and Golds by surprise as they seemed harrowed while going for the kill.
Chennai City had good build up but lacked the finishing touch
Complacency seemed to have crept into the East Bengal team as they looked like a side with little creativity in attack. Chennai had surged ahead a number of times but owing to the absence of goal scoring strikers, they could not inflict serious damage. Their composure was quite a far shot from that of a bottom placed side. The resolute defence held well when faced with the occasional good ball from the home side.
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The strike force of Marcos Thank and Charles de Souza combined well to catch the East Bengal defence off guard. Thank, nicknamed ‘The Tank’ for his imposing physique made most of his size but could not find the net. The lack of composure from the strike force caught them off guard at most times and allowed possession to be taken away.
The floodgates opened in the 50th minute
East Bengal huffed and puffed but could not find that final pass to slice open the Chennai City defence. The futile attempts by Ralte and co. to thread that perfect through ball did not yield much result until the 50th minute when Anselme scored his 5th goal.
East Bengal lacked their natural fluidity and seemed sluggish for the major part of the game. Robin Singh was a far cry from his usual best as he failed to make an impact on this game. The visitors had a comfortable hold over the midfield and looked menacing with their counter attacks.
Overall, it was a perfect morale booster for the Kolkata side before the big derby in Siliguri. But their first-half performance was insipid and lacked the flair needed to overcome the bottom side. It was quite a task for the home attack to conjure up anything substantial in the attacking third.
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The lack of a quality number 10 is hurting the goal scoring chances of Trevor James Morgan’s men. That elusive final pass rendered a number of build-ups ineffective in creating an opportunity. Anselme seemed to be either ahead of his position or found too deep, manning the central midfield. Ralte showed his form with a nimble assist for the first goal but it was otherwise a vapid performance from the midfielder.
Robin Singh did a good job in the last match with the shielding but against Chennai, he was rather dull and earned a booking for his antics. Rowlin Borges is yet to display his best side for East Bengal as his performance did not instil much confidence either. Mehtab should be back in the next match and that would hopefully resolve the midfield woes.
Chennai City FC should take heart from this display as they made the home side toil hard for the 3 points. Coach Morgan, on the other hand, should feel happy too as it was a tough fixture and their side did well to grind out a victory with a rather impressive scoreline.
