1st half was very defensive from both sides. But post break, it was a good match. MB was good in attack in patches, Katsumi was really off. But major problem was lack of coordination between Glen and Sony. If both were had half coordination then, it would have been a great match for MB.
Very Scrappy match. Quality improved a bit in the second half. East Bengal (particularly Arnab Mondal) cannot shake off its contagious disease of holding fort for most of the match and then conceding in the later stages. The goal poachers, Ranti Martins and Cornell Glen, did what was expected of them. Rehenesh put in a very decent performance. But to me the standout performer for East Bengal was Bikash Jairu. He has got a lot of flak for his performance in the NT on IFN, but he is a total team-man with endless reserves of energy. The way he whipped in dangerous crosses, ran all along the field, tracked back to help his defence was admirable. IMO, he is the man of the match! The sooner the East Bengal coach realizes that players like Mehtab, Soumik and Khabra are spent forces, the better.
Apart from that free kick I felt Norde was neatly bottled up by EB defense the entire game. Also Ruidas and Jairu put in a lot of hard yards. EB played with 3 foreigners and without Shehnaz and Lobo. Once Mendi joins, we would be the team to beat.
First, the stadium atmosphere was sublime; never experienced anything remotely similar to this. Turf was very good, though a bit soft by the looks of it.
quality wise, it was a mediocre match. The first half was scrappy, more so from MB's point of view. EB played a bit rough. Second half saw better play from both the sides and improved organisation from MB side. In fact, last ten minutes were blitzkreig from MB. Both the scorers -- Ranti and Cornell -- were shit. Glenn missed unbelievable sitters. Luciano was shittier than Ranti, who mostly prevailed. Katsumi was his usual industrious self, in fact, he has learnt to release the ball early. Norde, though marked heavily, tried hard. Dong had a forgettable day, save for one -- yes, single -- free kick in the whole match. Jairu was good, really good. The MB goalie, Debjit, had a good day under the bars. Shoubhik Chakrabarty was good till he was substituted. Bello was moderate. Balwant injected some energy when he came in as replacement for Azhar.
Comments
First, the stadium atmosphere was sublime; never experienced anything remotely similar to this. Turf was very good, though a bit soft by the looks of it.
quality wise, it was a mediocre match. The first half was scrappy, more so from MB's point of view. EB played a bit rough. Second half saw better play from both the sides and improved organisation from MB side. In fact, last ten minutes were blitzkreig from MB. Both the scorers -- Ranti and Cornell -- were shit. Glenn missed unbelievable sitters. Luciano was shittier than Ranti, who mostly prevailed. Katsumi was his usual industrious self, in fact, he has learnt to release the ball early. Norde, though marked heavily, tried hard. Dong had a forgettable day, save for one -- yes, single -- free kick in the whole match. Jairu was good, really good. The MB goalie, Debjit, had a good day under the bars. Shoubhik Chakrabarty was good till he was substituted. Bello was moderate. Balwant injected some energy when he came in as replacement for Azhar.
Overall, a so-so match ...