SC East Bengal’s hunt for a win in ISL VIII remained elusive as an own goal resulted in a 1-1 draw with Bengaluru FC (BFC) at the Athletic Stadium in Bambolim on Tuesday.
Their win-less run has now extended to nine matches. For BFC, a lone point meant another blow to their hopes of securing play-offs qualification.
Semboi Haokip put SC East Bengal ahead, scoring with a diving header in the 28th minute. But Sourav Das handed the equaliser to BFC, scoring an own goal in the 55th.
In a nervy start, SC East Bengal’s goalkeeper Arindam Bhattacharya was shown a yellow card for fouling Prince Ibara. At the other end, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu also had a rusty start as he misjudged a free-kick from deep that went unpunished. It took 18 minutes for either side to create a meaningful scoring opportunity when Lalrinliana Hnamte’s shot from the edge of the box was blocked by the BFC defence.
Roshan Naorem was shown a yellow card for a shirt pull and the subsequent free-kick led to Semboi Haokip breaking the deadlock just before the half-hour mark. He scored with a diving header which gave no chance to the custodian.
Alan Costa nearly scored the equaliser from Cleiton Silva’s free-kick a few moments later but his header went slightly over the bar. Marco Pezzaiuoli’s men kept pressing for an equaliser but went into the half-time break trailing. The restart saw the tactician send Sunil Chhetri to change the complexion of the match.
The equaliser finally came after a period of sustained pressure by the Blues in the second half. A cross from the right flank by Roshan was met by Sourav, whose miscued header went past his own goalkeeper at the near post.
Ibara was a constant threat and had the chance to give BFC the advantage after the hour mark but his header went over the crossbar. BFC was again denied the lead at the 71st-minute mark after Chhetri’s strike from 10-yards out was cleared on the line by Hira Mondal.
The Blues piled on more pressure as substitute Ankit Mukherjee picked up a yellow card for a foul on Ashique Kuruniyan. SC East Bengal will be next in action against leaders Mumbai City FC on Friday.
