East Bengal overcame their bogey team in Shillong Lajong at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Shillong to open up a one-point lead at the top of the table. Aussie Chris Payne scored twice in the first half to put East Bengal two up and in the driver’s seat but they almost squandered their lead as Lajong came back strongly in the second half.

The league’s top scorer Asier Dipanda Dicka took his tally of goals to nine for this season, as he headed in to give Lajong a lifeline.

Heading into the match, East Bengal were pumped up on the back of a 3-1 win and had a three-point lead over arch-rivals Mohun Bagan at the start of the day, with Aizawl FC a point behind the Lal Holud in second. With their Kolkata counterparts playing later in the day, they had a chance to open up a six point gap on Bagan. Aizawl’s 2-0 win over Mumbai meant that East Bengal had to win to reclaim top spot.

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Shillong, on the other hand, with five wins in seven games and four goals against Chennai City in their last outing, were gung-ho and were aiming for another East Bengal scalp after a 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture earlier on in the season. Trevor Morgan’s men had lost their previous three outings in Shillong and a 5-1 thrashing, suffered two years ago, was fresh in the memory.

Yet, East Bengal knew this was the toughest of their remaining fixtures in the league, with the exception of a Kolkata derby. Win this and the home stretch would suddenly be in sight.

Here are the talking points:

  • That win over Chennai City saw Brazilian Fabio Pena come off the bench and score a goal. He would be the only change to Lajong’s line-up with Redeem Tlang losing his place to Pena. The Brazilian had last started a game back on matchday three against Aizawl and had missed a penalty, turning in one of his worst performances of his Lajong career. As a result, Pena led the line ahead of Dicka, who had scored eight goals as a frontman since the Brazilian had been sent to the bench.
  • Morgan made one change to the side that beat Bengaluru, bringing in Mohammed Rafique in place of the injured Wedson Anselme. It was also the first time this season that East Bengal lined up without either Anselme or Willis Plaza, who had 11 goals between themselves. This was Rafique’s second start after the first against Aizawl on matchday one. Rafique, selected in Stephen Constantine’s probables for an upcoming international friendly and an AFC Asian Cup qualifier, provided a different challenge for the home team by keeping things ticking over in midfield.  
  • As Singto admitted after the game, his midfielders were outnumbered and were forced to play direct balls having been pegged back by Nikhil Poojari, Rafique and Rowllin Borges. Isaac Vanmalsawma and Yuta Kinowaki, who have successfully dictated the flow in midfield many a game this season, were forced deep and to over-rely on their widemen for most of their forward play. Isaac, also in Constantine’s probables had an evening to forget as his set piece delivery and passing were a big letdown. The 20-year old Mizo struggled to replicate the kind of accuracy we have seen from him this season.
  • Isolated from the midfield, Fabio struggled to hold the ball up against Ivan Bukenya and Gurwinder Singh and Mehtab Hossain kept Dicka in check early on. East Bengal made early pressure count when Vishal Kaith’s goalkeeping howler spilt the ball onto the path of Robin Singh who squared the ball to Chris Payne who opened the scoring for the visitors. After the game, Singto would go on to speak about it, “Definitely. That’s what p****s me off and sorry for my language. You see the first goal was poor defending, what else can you say.
  • After a brilliant his performance against Bengaluru, Singh didn’t live up to his promise and had a quiet afternoon. However, Lajong’s pressure counted for nothing when Fabio fluffed his lines when presented with a sitter five yards from goal. Minutes later, a harmless free-kick found his way to Payne who turned his marker and slotted it past Kaith to double East Bengal’s lead.
  • At half-time, Dicka was pushed forward and the switch worked. Fabio dropped deeper in trying to aid the midfield in a battle they had lost in the first half, the Lajong midfield having been overrun till then. A ball by Samuel Shadap found the Cameroonian who headed it past Rehenesh who came out to try and catch the cross but was caught in no man’s land. Lajong finally had a life-line and a way back into the match. Dicka had his goal and that could, or rather should see, Fabio relegated to the bench once more.
  • Samuel Lalmuanpuia let fly with a long-range effort which Rehenesh tipped over and Rupert Nongrum, after coming on for Pena had a golden chance to level things up but scuffed his shot high when left with only the goalkeeper to beat. Nongrum’s effort was typical of Lajong at times this season: Lots of chances created, but nerves and a lack of experience playing a part in the end-product.
  • With this defeat, Lajong now stay in fourth, and look forward to playing away games against Minerva Punjab and Churchill Brothers. They look one striker and another season away from being competitive for the top three spots. As for East Bengal, another test passed and with five of their remaining six games against the bottom five, no continental competitions and arguably the best squad depth in the league coupled with Bagan’s 2-1 loss at Churchill, odds of a first I-League title look very promising.