Kolkata: Thrice East Bengal trailed Bengaluru FC, the last two times after Miguel Ferreira’s early red card. Thrice they came back, the final equaliser from Anton Sjoberg coming in the seventh minute of second-half stoppage time. By then, East Bengal had played with 10 men for 73 minutes. If ever a point felt like three for East Bengal, this would be it.
Thursday’s 3-3 draw took East Bengal to 15 points, three behind ISL12 leaders Mumbai City FC, and in third place after eight rounds. Bengaluru FC too have 15 but are fourth having played a game more. With defending champions Mohun Bagan Super Giant on 17, there are five teams within touching distance of each other in the top half.
An even contest with Ashique Kuruniyan and Anwar Ali sharing well taken early goals turned on its head when Ferreira saw red. Play had stopped for a foul when the Brazilian kicked a ball on the touchline towards Kuruniyan leading to an angry reaction and both benches getting involved. Referee Ashwin consulted his assistant P Vairamuthu before showing Ferreira the red card. Ferreira fired a full-blooded shot at the Bengaluru FC on his way out leading to another round of argument. The match was then 25 minutes old.
East Bengal switched to a back five with Jeakson Singh dropping down and Youssef Ezzejjari playing the lone forward. They retreated into a low block and Bengaluru FC attacked in waves. Things got worse in the 39th minute when Prabhsukhan Singh Gill spilled a low delivery from Ryan Williams and Suresh Singh Wangjam made it 2-1.
But with Bengaluru FC unable to take control, East Bengal returned with renewed vigour using Edmund Lalrindika and Bipin Singh as wide outlets. They fought for every ball and made it 2-2 in the 55th minute through a superb drive from Saul Crespo. It was Bipin’s perseverance that led to the goal, his delivery from the right being cleared by Rahul Bheke but only as far as East Bengal’s Spanish midfielder. Crespo’s first drive was repulsed by Chinglensana Singh and when he a second go, he changed direction and the shot screamed into the bottom corner of Gurpreet Singh Sandhu’s goal.
Crespo celebrated hard and egged on by the home crowd, East Bengal thought they would be able to hold on. Head coach Oscar Bruzon got fresh legs in the 66th minute bringing on Sojberg and Nandha Kumar but was forced into changing Ali for Mohamad Rakip at the same time. Five minutes later Williams thought he had put then game to bed, timing his run superbly to meet a clever pass played on the inside by substitute Soham Varshneya, rounding off Gill and scoring from almost on the goalline.
When Sandhu managed to stretch a long arm and keep a ball away from Sojberg which Crespo could not keep on target because he was off balance, it seemed all over for the home team. It turned out that Bipin Singh didn’t know what that meant. Again, he went and fired one into the mix. The ball pinged in the area and before Bengaluru FC could clear, Sojberg found a left-footer that went in. Shirt off, the GPS vest off, the Dane went on a celebration run before he was swarmed by players. This was the 25-year-old’s first goal in ISL since joining in February.
It was a fitting end to a match that began with Kuruniyan scoring with a banger off his weak right foot in the 12th minute after Sirojiddin Kuziev found the wide left with a long ball. Bipin had pushed Kuruniyan to the right little knowing that the former Mohun Bagan player could pull off such a swinging effort that eluded Gill’s fingers. East Bengal replied with Ali’s back-volley from a Ferreira corner-kick in the 21st minute, the central defender reacting first and best to the bouncing ball.
