Newbie SekarтАЩs wonder goal helps East Bengal beat Mohun Bagan in Durand Cup | Football News
The road to redemption is long but with survival in the 132nd Durand Cup at stake, with tifos mocking them, East Bengal have laid down a marker alright. With a wonder goal in the Kolkata derby that is 98 years old.
Nandhakumar Sekar ended hurt accumulated over eight successive defeats to Mohun Bagan, one stretching to January 2019 and a world unfamiliar with Covid-19. To date, he had only seen the derby on TV, he said. Now, East Bengal supporters all over the world will not let him forget it.
With four points from two games, East Bengal stay alive in the worldтАЩs third-oldest football tournament. Mohun Bagan ended the group league with six points from three. Six group winners will qualify for the quarter-finals as will the two best second-placed teams. Ergo, for the second successive edition, Mohun Bagan could exit in the first round. East Bengal end the group league against Punjab FC on Wednesday.
ItтАЩs been some year for Sekar. With six goals and one assist at Odisha FC, the 27-year-old wide midfielder had caught India head coach Igor StimacтАЩs attention. Sekar debuted for the national team in the Intercontinental Cup and he moved to East Bengal, a club as weather-beaten in the present as it was glorious in the past.
The Salt Lake stadiumтАЩs yawning tiers heave and throb every time the most storied teams of India, and two of the oldest in Asia, clash but more so when they meet for the first time in a season. The half of the amphitheatre that had East Bengal fans erupted as referee Harish Kundu blew for full time, some of them scaling the perimeter fencing to hit the pitch.
There they looked up, hands raised into the Saturday evening sky. If there is one thing that can drown the echo of rain at this cauldron, it is the roar of devotees whose prayers had been answered. Bare-chested, arms spread two of them were running on the pitch nearly half-an-hour after the derby was done and dusted, giving the bouncers a hard time.
India champions Mohun Bagan have a roster aflush with signings that can intimidate even if it does not impress. Just before Sekar struck in the 60th minute, they sent out to warm-up a veritable WhoтАЩs Who of the domestic game. There was Dimitri Petratos, hero of the Iast Indian Super League (ISL) final, Jason Cummings, who played against Lionel Messi in the 2022 World Cup, India stars Sahal Abdul Samad and Ashique Kuruniyan and Kiyan Nassiri who has a hattrick in the Kolkata derby. But this was an evening nothing would faze East Bengal.
Anirudh Thapa is an India star for the right reasons but he would want to forget his start in Kolkata. It was Thapa failing to intercept Borja HerreraтАЩs pass that freed Sekar. He chewed up ground and as Thapa caught up, beat him again. Then he opened his shoulder and let fly in the way Lalrindika Ralte would once in colours red and gold. Vishal Kaith in Mohun Bagan had no chance.
KaithтАЩs counterpart, Prabhsukhan Gill, got fingertips to Armando SadikuтАЩs second-minute shot. Gill was caught out by an Anwar Ali effort from 45 yards but East Bengal were saved by the horizontal. Barring that and against an attacking line-up frizzing with talent, Gill was brave and composed.
As was East Bengal. New coach Carles Cuadrat has been through the ranks at FC Barcelona but is in the mould of their current manager Xavi Hernandez: 1-0 wins would do just fine. East Bengal pressed Mohun Bagan in the midfield drawing a couple of early fouls from Thapa. And they harried and hassled Mohun Bagan in their defensive third.
Herrera tried to find Javier Siverio once needing a tremendous hooked clearance from Ali but mostly, East Bengal relied on Sekar and Mahesh NaoremтАЩs guile and speed to test Mohun Bagan. It kept Mohun BaganтАЩs fullbacks Asish Rai and Subhasish Bose occupied and they failed to support Liston Colaco and Manvir Singh. Petratos and Ali missed free headers and Cummings blasted wide and in the rain, East Bengal wiped the slate clean.
