East Bengal thrashed Coal India FC 7-0 on the decisive CFL final day, while Mohun Bagan beat Mohammedan 3-2 in a dramatic clash and United FC drew 0-0 with Bhowanipore.

East Bengal dominated Coal India FC on the decisive last day of the Calcutta Football League. The championship race was wide open among the top five teams. Though Coal India FC was out of the race, East Bengal never took them lightly and played a dominating 100-minute football match, scoring 7-0, exactly the number they needed to win the Calcutta Football League if Mohun Bagan and Mohammedan ended up with a draw.

From the very first minute of the match, East Bengal continued to display why they are so special, with no senior members in the squad, East Bengal never gave the feeling that they were out of sight. They started with their usual lineup, consisting of Jay Baz, Tanmay Das and Mohammad Bilal.

Coal India had nothing at stake, after losing their big names, their team balance was disrupted, failing massively to give answers to opponents’ attack as a result they ended up losing all three matches of Super Six.

Coal India failed to stop East Bengal

Mohun Bagan edged Mohammedan SC 3-2 in a dramatic encounter, despite playing with 10 men for more than 30 minutes. United FC and Bhowanipore played out a goalless draw, while the Mariners moved closer to lifting the CFL trophy for the first time in eight years.

East Bengal turned every ball into an attack from the first whistle of the match, in the second minute of the match Mohammad Bilal converted Jay Baz’s assist into a goal. After that Coal India tried to recover but failed against East Bengal’s defence. East Bengal scored again in the 10th minute of the game as Suvo won possession deep in the opposition half and threaded the ball down the left for Akash. With time and composure, Akash picked out Bijay inside the box, who rose high and powered a thumping header past the goalkeeper. For the first 45 minutes, it remained the same, the game never played on the other side, and it was all red and yellow throughout the game. Though they created chances, they failed to convert. Mohammad Bilal and Bijay Murmu were everywhere.

A tough day for Sanjoy Kumar Bhattacharya

In the first half, Coal India FC defenders showed a good game display but after that, it was never the same, East Bengal’s attack turned the game into a battle against Coal India FC goalkeeper and captain, Sanjoy Kumar Bhattacharya, after Akash scored the third goal of the match in the 58th minute the defence of CIFC broke down, then it was only EBFC vs CIFC. Right after that, Bijay took the lead to four, and as it was not enough, East Bengal got a penalty and Tanmay Das helped to take a 5-0 lead.

The goal fest hit a pause for some time but mishaps in the additional minutes changed the scoreline. Mohamed Bilal ran through Coal India’s half before laying it off to Uttam, who found himself with an open goal in the 90+8 minute.
East Bengal’s final kick of the game came on 90+10 minutes as Akash capitalised on Coal India’s sloppy kick-off and calmly beat Sanjoy.