I-League 2017: Coach Khalid Jamil rues East Bengal's poor set-piece defending

What's the story?

East Bengal coach Khalid Jamil regretted thelapse in concentration by side while defending a set-piece, as Mohun Bagan defedner Kingsley got his header onto the ball, to give the Mariners a 1-0 win.

In case you didn't know...

The Red and Golds came into the Kolkata derby following a draw in their opening fixture against defending champions Aizawl FC a few days ago. They were leading by two goals in the 75th minute, but everything went downhill from there on. The visitors fought their way back and scored two of goals, both of which came from set-piece movements, one from a wide free kick and the other from a corner in the dying minutes of the game. In the derby too, they conceded the goal from a set-piece movement.

The heart of the matter

The three-time National League champions lost five points in their first two matches and their defence was a big concern, which was exposed in each of the two games. All the three goals scored against them in the season were from set-pieces, which disappointed Khalid Jamil very much.

“I am sad because of East Bengal conceded in a set-piece movement. We worked very hard (on set-piece movements), tried to work on our defence. Mistakes were committed not only on man marking, but the ball also bounced in front and then the header came, we had to keep our concentration,” said Khalid Jamil at the post-match conference.

What's next?

East Bengal will be up against Shillong Lajong in their next fixture on December 9, and they will hope for a change in fortunes from that game.

Authors' take

Defence has been the main problem for Jamil and surprisingly their most effective centre-back in recent times, Arnab Mondal, is yet to play in this year’s I-League. It will be interesting to see when he is fielded in the playing XI, and if not, how Khalid organises his back-four.