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East Bengal secured a crucial victory against last season's Shield winners Jamshedpur FC (JFC) at the JRD Tata Sports Complex on Sunday, November 27. Naorem Mahesh Singh starred for the Red and Gold Brigade with a hat-trick of assists to take home the Hero of the Match award while talisman Cleiton Silva bagged a clinical brace.
The encounter was a quintessential example of a winning performance from Stephen Constantine's side. Right from the first whistle, the Torchbearers started on the front foot as they broke the deadlock just after 93 seconds. Mahesh Singh, from the left wing, delivered a looping cross at the far post and Suhair VP threaded it past the keeper with a flying header.
Aidy Boothroyd, on the sidelines, looked stunned as his team was already chasing the game. Soon after, EB seemed to double their lead when Silva buried a Jordan O'Doherty cross into the back of the net. But the referee ruled out the goal as Suhair was in an offside position during the build-up.
It didn't deter East Bengal as they doubled the lead in the 26th minute. Mahesh delivered his inch-perfect cross of the night to find Silva, who made a well-timed run behind the defenders and slotted it in.
But towards the end of the first half, Jamshedpur, who reignited after conceding two early goals, pulled one back. Lalchungnunga was found to have elbowed Harry Sawyer while contesting a header and the referee pointed to the spot. Jay Emmanuel-Thomas got his chance to get on the scoresheet and took it with ease.
East Bengal show maturity and resilience to hold off the lead against Jamshedpur FC
With the wounds of their collapse against Odisha FC still fresh, East Bengal came out after the break with the intention of sealing the tie.
But in the 57th minute, Jamshedpur caught East Bengal on the break via Jay Emmanuel-Thomas. The Arsenal academy graduate shrugged off multiple opposition defenders before playing Daniel Chukwu down the left flank. The Nigerian forward delivered a far-post cross, however, and Jay headed it straight to the keeper.
Moments later, it was the Red and Gold Brigade who responded with a counter-attack of their own and they didn't miss. Naorem provided an inch-perfect grounded through-ball between the two central defenders and the goalkeeper. Cleiton was the quickest to react as he guided the ball past the keeper. The goal put the Brazilian forward at the top of the scoring charts for the season.
East Bengal clung on to the two-goal lead until the final whistle as Jamshedpur sunk to their fourth defeat in a row. The Men of Steel now sit in 10th place with four points in seven games. Meanwhile, the Kolkata giants jumped to eighth with three points.
