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East Bengal went to the top of the I-League with a narrow 1-0 win over new boys Gokulam Kerala FC at home. It wasn't the most compelling performance from Khalid Jamil's side, but they managed to bag the three points in the end as visitors Kerala put up a spirited performance and made things difficult for the hosts.
Here's what stood out from the game:
Kerala shackle Yusa and Al Amnah
It looked like the visitors had done their homework before coming here. Yes, a lot of smaller teams come for a point in such away games, but Kerala seemingly had some set plans that allowed them to actually enjoy the better of the first half.
Mahmoud Al Amnah has been one of East Bengal's chief creators thus far and Katsumi Yusa has also been instrumental. Kerala made sure to cut off the supply line from both of these players. Every time either of them got the ball, Kerala always had two men on them to make sure they didn't get any sort of room to operate and bring their forwards into play.
It worked wonders too until the goal as the effort managed to prevent East Bengal from gaining any rhythm and fashioning clear-cut chances.
Kamo outshines the East Bengal forwards
Stephane Bayi Kamo played as the lone forward up front for the visitors, a role he played really well.
He really gave Arnab Mondal and Eduardo Ferreira in the heart of East Bengal's defence a tough time with his physicality and ability to wriggle into space. He did a fantastic job with the ball at his feet - holding it up to bring his teammates into play, showing good ball control to get away from defenders and winning free-kicks that helped his side gain ground.
Compared to Charles De Souza and Willis Plaza in the East Bengal ranks, Kamo was the better forward in the game. Unfortunately, he had to be taken off after 48 minutes and Kerala missed his industry after that.
Francis comes in and has an impact
The visitors looked to have suffered an early blow when Khaled Al Saleh pulled up holding his left thigh and had to be swiftly substituted as early as the 10th minute. Al Saleh has been one of three goalscorers for Kerala this season.
In his place came the tall, rangy Francis Ambane who went on to have quite the game and proved a huge threat to the Kolkata giants. East Bengal found it tough to mark him as his powerful running managed to open up the game for Kerala. He formed a good partnership with Kamo up front.
In the 17th minute, he almost gave them the lead. His left-footed curling free-kick left Luis Barreto in goal rooted to the spot, but unfortunately for Kerala it thudded off the crossbar and the East Bengal defence managed to clear the rebound. In the 25th minute, he delivered a dangerous ball into the box from a corner that almost led to a goal.
His stint was surprisingly brought to an end in the 73rd minute, the substitute getting subbed, with his side still only one goal down. Perhaps Kerala's coach wanted to preserve him for the upcoming games.
A Rafique screamer settles matters
It was a narrow win in the end for East Bengal and it was Mohammed Rafique's belter of a goal that was the difference in the end between the two sides.
In the 44th minute, East Bengal won a corner. Kerala cleared the initial ball, but the clearance went straight to Rafique who was camped just outside the box. Taking one touch, the midfielder unleashed an unstoppable volley that left the Kerala keeper with no chance as the ball burst into the back of the net. The contact was so clean that the defence and keeper had absolutely no chance of stopping it.
Red for Mirza
Visitors Kerala had to play the last 37 minutes of the contest with 10 men after Rohit Mirza was shown a straight red.
The foul in play was a shocking kick out at East Bengal playmaker Yusa. The Japanese had got the ball under control and was well past when Mirza unleashed a right-footed kick at him with absolutely no intent at playing the ball. It was very malicious indeed.
However, the intrigue came in what followed. As both men lay on the ground and as East Bengal players vented their unhappiness at the tackle led by captain Arnab Mondal, the referee Umesh Bora had a yellow card in his hand.
It took almost two minutes before both Yusa and Mirza were taken off the pitch, but after seemingly receiving a word in his ear from someone, maybe the fourth official, Bora changed his decision, kept the yellow card in and took out the red to dismiss Mirza.
It was the right call in the end, but it's something that we don't see often.
