Kolkata, August 6: East Bengal FC won their second fixture of the ongoing 134th edition of the Durand Cup with a second-half goal and a 1-0 scoreline against Namdhari SA on Wednesday evening at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan. Namdhari SA, having played all three group fixtures and collected 6 points, remained in second place. Meanwhile, East Bengal FC, with one match left, moved to the top spot and sealed a place in the knockout stage. Miguel Ferreira, Hamid Ahdad, and Kevin Sibille also made their first appearances for the Red and Gold brigade in the evening.
East Bengal FC showcased their attacking intent right from the start, creating multiple close chances in the opening 45 minutes. In the 16th minute, a threatening move from the left, when Saul passed the ball to Bipin Singh, he enter the box, unleashed a shot that off the post which Lamine Moro intercepted, but the clearance again found Dimantakos inside the six-yard box. However, the Namdhari defence held firm and cleared the danger.
East Bengal FC quickly regained momentum with a counter-attack, continuing to build pressure. In the 17th minute, Rashid tested the Namdhari keeper with a long-range shot that forced a sharp save.
The 21st minute saw a chaotic moment in front of goal. After a restart, the Namdhari keeper Niraj Kumar kicked the ball out, but East Bengal FC capitalised on the opportunity. Miguel received the ball and unleashed a grounded long-range shot that was heading for the right bottom corner and hitted the post. Within a minute, Miguel was again took action, from a corner took a powerful header that hit the crossbar, narrowly missing the target, again.
As the half went moving forward, East Bengal FC pushed more attack. In the 42nd minute, Saul’s corner was met by another Miguel header, but once again, the effort was denied by the crossbar. Despite creating several chances, East Bengal FC were left frustrated as the first half ended goalless, with attempting 9 shots with maximum 61% ball possession, while in the other side Namdhari SA didn’t attempt a single shot, but stood firm at their defensive third.
East Bengal FC finally broke the deadlock in the 68th minute. Miguel delivered a well-placed corner from the right, which was met by debutant Hamid, who cake to the field at 61st minute , and sent a header into the frame, give his side a 1-0 lead.
Namdhari got their first chance to respond, in the 85th minute, in the left flank after Rakip committed a foul on substitute Lotjem. However, the opportunity was wasted as the resulting attack was flagged offside.
In the dying moments of the game, during stoppage time at 90+2nd minute, Edmund created a golden opportunity. He cut past defenders from the left side of the six-yard box and chipped the ball perfectly for Hamid, he almost doubled his tally with a one-touch shot, but it went narrowly wide. It was a close miss that could’ve sealed the second goal.
Throughout the match, Namdhari SA didn’t attempt a single shot. They defended strongly from the kickoff but saw their untouched net broken in the 68th minute. As a result, after two consecutive wins in the Group A clash, they ended their final group fixture with a loss. Despite late pressure, East Bengal held on to their one-goal lead and sealed a hard-fought win, to sealed the quarter final spot.
Brazilian midfielder Miguel Ferreira delivered an impressive performance in his debut match, creating several chances throughout his time on the pitch and also providing the assist for the only goal. East Bengal will play their final group fixture on August 10 against Indian Air Force at the KBK.
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