Southern Samity in general and Edmilson in particulcar proved to be the nemesis of East Bengal when they defeated Kingfisher East Bengal in the Salt Lake Stadium here in Kolkata today. Both the teams were playing their opening game of the tournament today.
The match, however started in the favour of the red & golds w
hen in the 3rd minute itself Ravinder Singh scored a cracker of a goal from 40 yards.
Southern Samity were not intimidated by this as they kept on looking for chances under the leadership of former East Bengal forward Edmilson. Meanwhile, Tolgay and Robin Singh created some chances and earned a free kick in the 38th minute. However, Ravinder Singh wasted this chance by taking a feeble attempt at the goal.
In the 40th minute Edmilson earned a free kick from advantageous position as Sushanth Mathews earned a yellow card for fouling him. Edmilson made the most of this opportunity and scored a superb goal past Abhra Mandal. In the second half, both the teams started pressing for a win and created chances. East Bengal earned a couple of corners but could not utilize them. East Bengal brought in Vashum and Naoba Singh to add speed to their game. But it was nottheir day probably.
The regulation time was over and the score stood 1-1. Just when everyone thought that the honor has been shared between the two teams, the minnows earned a corner. That was it. Edmilson’s corner shot went straight into the goal just seconds before the final whistle.
Interestingly, East Bengal came into he match with their I-League team. They were missing the services of their star midfielders Mehtab and Penn. It is very hard to believe that East Bengal is not resting their regular players even though they have got AFC Cup committments and are aiming for the I League.
