East Bengal’s title aspirations went up in smoke as newcomers Gokulam Kerala FC came from behind to record a stunning 2-1 win in the I-League in Calicut on Saturday.
Yusa Katsumi opened the scoring from the penalty spot for the away side but Kivi Zhimomi restored parity. An own goal by substitute Salam Ranjan Singh ensured East Bengal went back with no points.
Dudu Omagbemi and Katsumi Yusa were trying hard to choke Gokulam Kerala FC defence but they stood tall between the East Bengal attackers and the target. Al Amna nutmegged three defenders and unleashed a juicy delivery to Samad Ali Mullick but he failed to make the best out of it in the fourth minute.
Bino George had to go for an early change as Al-Ajmi got himself injured in the 35th minute and eventually, the Bahrainian midfielder got substituted by Arjun Jayaraj, who played a significant role in netting their second goal.
Emmanuel Chigozie invited a spot-kick in the added minutes of the first-half when he hacked down Cavin Lobo inside the box. Katsumi Yusa had little problem perplexing Bilal Khan to send the travelling fans into a rapture before the referee signalled for half-time.
It was a completely changed Kerala outfit after the changeover as their attackers started pushing East Bengal defenders harder and eventually Kivi Zhimoni found the back of the net in the 51st minute.
Henry sidefooted a ball which came into Kivi’s way and the striker struck a powerful shot which rattled the back of the net to cancel the visitors’ lead.
Henry could have netted a brace had the woodwork not betrayed him twice in the second half. Henry’s left-footed long-ranger ricocheted off the woodwork but Kivi’s header went haywire in the 76th minute.
Seven minutes later, the striker’s fate betrayed him once again when he hit the crossbar from a powerful header off Irshad’s cross.
Eventually, Henry played a crucial role setting up their second goal when he passed it onto an onrushing Arjun Jayaraj who was left unmarked by the East Bengal defenders. The first-half substitute passed a low delivery which was netted wrongfully by Salam Ranjan to increase Khalid Jamil’s troubles.
The match heated up as the referee had to give a couple of marching order towards the final whistle. Following a scuffle on the pitch, Md. Irshad was shown a red and a rough challenge on Arjun forced the referee to give East Bengal skipper Arnab Mondal another marching order to leave the visitors in a dismay.
East Bengal remained third in the table with 26 points from 15 fixtures, three points adrift of second-placed Minerva Punjab FC (29 points from 14 games) and five of league leaders Neroca FC who have 31 from 16 matches.
Gokulam moved to the eighth spot with 16 points from 14 games. East Bengal next take on Chennai City FC at home on February 24 while Gokulam will travel to Punjab to play Minerva on Tuesday.
(With inputs from PTI)
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