This evening at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Shillong, Carles Cuadrat’s Emami East Bengal FC faced off against Jose Carlos’s Shillong Lajong FC and lost the match. After winning the 133rd Durand Cup quarter-final with a 2-1 score, Shillong Lajong FC qualified for the semi-final today.
Throughout the match, East Bengal FC maintained ball control, but Shillong Lajong FC ended up with the match control. They played very hard today. Within eight minutes Shillong Lajong got their lead. From a corner kick Hardy Cliff delivered the ball into the box and Marcos Rudwere took a header with it and brings up the first goal.
In the 21st minute, Shillong Lajong got another chance to score from a free kick. Sana took a header, but it hit the crossbar. In the 30th minute, after an attack from inside the box, Nanda Kumar quickly turned and took a shot, but it went straight to the goalkeeper, failing to bring the crucial equalizer for East Bengal. In the 39th minute, Madih Talal found the net, but it was offside.
After getting their early lead, Shillong Lajong seemed a bit defensive, opting for occasional counterattacks. In the first half, East Bengal played offensively, trying to equalize the scoreline but failed to break through Shillong Lajong FC’s defense.
In the second half, East Bengal resumed the game with the same attacking force. Finally, in the 77th minute, they secured a crucial equalizer. Substitute player PV Vishnu, from the left flank, centered a ball in front of the far post, and Nanda Kumar placed it into the net. After his goal, he held up his jersey to reveal the message ‘Respect Women,’ hinting at the protests in Kolkata regarding the current R.G. Kar Medical College case.
But within a few minutes, Shillong Lajong regained their lead. In the 84th minute, during a counter-attack from the left wing, Wadajied passed the ball to Rudwere, who back-minus the ball, and their super-sub Figo Syndai placed it into the frame and scored the winning goal.
Throughout the match East Bengal FC played the match with dominant ball possession and took numerous shots but failed to snatched their quarter-final win from Shillong Lajong FC. Their defense looked very compact today, and their keeper Manas Dubey played with great confidence.
Match Highlights
Key stats East Bengal FC vs Shillong Lajong FC:
BALL POSSESSION: SLFC 39%, EBFC 61%
SHOTS: SLFC 21, EBFC 23
SHOTS ON TARGET: SLFC 8, EBFC 5
FOULS: SLFC 17, EBFC 9
YELLOW CARDS: SLFC 4, EBFC 3
CORNERS: SLFC 2, EBFC 1
OFFSIDES: SLFC 1, EBFC 4
