East Bengal suffered back-to-back defeats in ISL IX as they lost to FC Goa 2-1 at the Salt Lake Stadium on Wednesday. In the opening match, East Bengal were beaten 3-1 by Kerala Blasters.

Brandon Fernandes put the visitors ahead early in the match but East Bengal’s Brazilian striker Cleiton Silva equalised off a penalty in the 64th. Edu Bedia got the winner deep into the injury-time when it looked as if the hosts had sealed a point. East Bengal were pegged back in the seventh minute when FC Goa drew the first blood.

Alvaro Vazquez gave a pass to Brandon Fernandes inside the box, who went past captain Ivan Gonzalez and then dribbled past East Bengal goalkeeper Kamaljit Singh and calmly put the ball home. East Bengal defenders continued with their sloppy performance and FC Goa got numerous chances to double the lead.

After the change of ends, the hosts went all out for the equaliser. The best chance came when VP Suhair gave a pass to Jordan O’Doherty inside the box but his right-footed volley sailed over. East Bengal restored parity when Cleiton Silva converted a spot-kick four minutes after the hour-mark. East Bengal were awarded a penalty when Suhair was fouled by FC Goa goalkeeper Dheeraj Singh.

Strangely referee Harish Kundu did not even show a yellow card to Singh. Even after the equaliser, the Stephen Constantine-coached side’s defence looked clueless. FC Goa kept on trying till the very last minute and were rewarded. Edu Bedia made it 2-1 in the last minute of injury time (90+4). His free-kick, more of a chip from a long way out, went in as East Bengal defence and goalkeeper watched.

East Bengal frontliners Suhair and Silva were unable to stretch the FC Goa defence. This allowed the rival defenders to play freely and helped to build their attack. East Bengal finished at the bottom in the last edition. This time around they have a new coach, and a new investor but as far as the result is concerned it remains the same. After two matches, they are at the bottom of the league table. They now travel to Guwahati to play NorthEast United on October 20.