“Jingle Bells…. Odisha Fails…. East Bengal all the way…” Starting the new year with a bang, perhaps that’s what was waiting in our destiny! Mesmerizing performances from Pilkington, Maghoma and our newest family member Bright sealed 3 points for us first time in ISL. Well, not only this trio, rather a number of other standout performers made the job easy for gaffer Robby Fowler. For the first time the team would return to the hotel singing and dancing in the team bus. So what are we waiting for? Let’s take a quick look at our Standout Performers in our Historic Victory over Odisha FC:
Anthony Pilkington
Hello vice captain, what did you say before the match? Take a look below.
And indeed he kept his promise. He gifted us a goal and helped us snatch 3 crucial points from Odisha! Alone upfront, he did almost everything possible to keep Taylor and his defence at bay. Almost every time he got the ball, he tried to keep hold of it and distribute it to other teammates. In the process he had to deal with the markers which he did so well that none could really stop him. Pilkington played one of his best games in the red and gold shirt. He came close to score his second in the 29th minute when he saw his shot come off after hitting the crossbar! A few moments earlier, he had also set Rafique up, which the latter shot a little over the bar.
Jacques Maghoma
Another superb player, Maa-Gho-Maa proved yet again how crucial and fundamental he is to this team. He has that ability to run with the ball and create space for others and the goal he scored was actually a reflection of the same. Getting the ball in the midfield, Steinmann could easily pick out the unmarked run of Maghoma whom he quickly passed the ball. After running with the ball and creating some space for himself, Maghoma went for the goal and scored a golazo! The 2-0 scoreline in the first half showed how comfortably the attacking duo of Maghoma and Pilkington gave us the lead. Apart from that, the Congolese was a constant threat down the left for Odisha and marking him seemed really tough for Sarangi.
Bright Enobakhare
Amago Ujjol Da came on as a sub and completely shifted the momentum that Odisha FC created after the commencement of the second half in our favour. Sent in as a forward, he constantly got involved with every movement and came down deep to coordinate with the backline, much like how Messi plays in Barcelona. Bright’s swift movement and ball retention gave the others opportunities to threaten Odisha and in a similar manner we scored the third goal.
Bright kept the ball with himself till Surchandra found some open space, he passed the ball and Bikash Jairu crossed the ball inside which after some ricochet fell to Bright. Bright’s first attempt was well dealt with by Arshdeep, but a low minus from Surchandra off the rebound found Bright again, who did perfect to find the net this time on his debut. The addition of Bright would surely increase our offensive options.
Debjit Majumdar
The little man under the bar yet again proved how underrated he is and how he can decide the fate of the match. In the preliminary stages of the first half, he saved two headers, one diving low on his left and the other with spectacular reflex to deny two crucial goals to Odisha FC. Had those been not saved, the joyful atmosphere in the East Bengal dressing room might have become completely antagonistic.
In the second half too, Debjit stood firm when Odisha FC were controlling the play, and denied Onwu a couple of times more with swift reflexes. The conceding of goal late in injury time was just a defensive error, but apart from that Debjit did enough to satisfy the demands of our dugout.
Apart from these four pillars, our two other debutants also played pretty well namely Raju Gaikwad and Ankit Mukherjee.
Raju Gaikwad
The former East Bengal defender joined us again this winter after a disappointing spell at Kerala, but what he did against Odisha FC for East Bengal today might just comfort Fowler to some extent. As a right back he did what was asked from him. He supported defence, went to overlap and attacked at times too. He even combined with Steinmann a couple of times to build attacks. However, most notably the first goal in this historic victory from Pilkington came from a long throw from Raju. He is pretty well known for this attribute in India. Hence out of 10, he doesn’t deserve less than 7 on his debut.
Ankit Mukherjee
For a youngster, coming on at a time when his team is struggling in defence and the opposition is at their best spell in the game is really very tough. What if it’s his debut? On the contrary, Ankit seemed calm after coming on and tried to play with composure. Although he gave away the ball a couple of times, he showed his speed down the right flank. He moved into the opposition box from the midfield with the ball, which shows he might be a potential threat for any defence if groomed well.
Even after such a seemingly comfortable victory, both the defence and second half are still big concern for East Bengal. Had Odisha FC been not so much wasteful in the final third, we might have conceded double of what we have scored. Neville still looks uncomfortable as a centre back and Jairu not at all fit as a left back. Being less physical on the field equally affects us in duels, and ridiculous marking during set pieces really exposes our goal.Odisha could have easily capitalised on set pieces, but their players although were able to connect with majority of crosses and corners, just couldn’t direct them in the goal! We hope the coaching staff soon be able to find answers to such problems, but the performance is getting better day by day. That’s what we have got to celebrate now. Joy East Bengal.
