#2 No sign of stage fright from Rahul Bheke
The last time they took to the pitch, Bagan got the better of Colombo FC in the AFC Cup qualifiers, thanks to their star man Sony Norde. The winger couldn’t repeat his heroics today as he wasn’t afforded the space to do so.
East Bengal’s right back, Rahul Bheke’s intelligent defending ensured that the Haitian didn’t run riot on the wings. Bheke didn’t hound Norde, neither did he get physical with him. Instead, he positioned himself extremely well. The Indian consistently coerced Sony inwards, an area that the winger usually loves entering.
But East Bengal had parked numbers in the middle. It meant Norde often found himself heading into traffic. Sony was stifled and he didn’t like it one bit. Rahul not only defended well, he added numbers in attack and combined well with Nikhil Poojary down the right wing.
