Indian footballing giants East Bengal thrashed defending champions Bengaluru FC 3-1 to consolidate their position at the top of the table in the marquee clash of the I-League on Saturday night.
Coach Trevor Morgan made six changes in the Reds and Gold's line-up on the night, bringing inRobin Singh, Gurwinder Singh, Robert Lathlamuana, Chris Payne, Nikhil Poojari and Robin Gurung and the changes paid off as the visitors dominated the match from start to finish.
The @eastbengalfc supporters go berserk as Wedson hurls the first goal within half-hour mark #BFCvKEB #HeroILeague pic.twitter.com/pZCXguBMlu
East Bengal who completely outplayed the hosts right from the start, opened the scoring in the 23rd minute, through W. Anselme. TheThe Haitian shimmied past Juan Juanan before unleashing a 23-yard curler past Sandesh Jhingan and a stranded Arindam Bhattacharya right into the far corner of the Bengaluru goal.
While Bengaluru did try to fight back after conceding the opener, they were guilty of missing a chance to equalise withDaniel Lalhlimpuia missing a sitter at the start of the second half. That miss would later come to haunt them, as former Blues striker Robin Singh made sure to take his chances, scoring a brace in the 54th and 59th minute respectively.
.@cam8710 laboured hard in midfield for the Blues on what was a hard night at the Fortress. #BFCvKEB pic.twitter.com/4OhT6S3eLP
The Blues managed to cut the deficit in then the 85th minute when intelligent interplay on the edge of the box between Chhetri and Udanta saw Vineeth bundling the goal at the far post.
It was too late by then though there was still time for both the camps to getembroiled in a nasty brawl on the touchline.
None but @robin_singh_23 could have been chosen as the Hero of the Match following his swashbuckling show at his ex-home. #BFCvKEB pic.twitter.com/gacQ5kifQH
The win puts East Bengal in first place on the league table with 24 points from 11 games, while Bengaluru remain in fifth position with 13 points, trailing the leaders by 11 points.