Scott Neville‘s header saved the Red and Golds from a certain defeat tonight. The 90th-minute equalizer resulted in a stalemate draw with the Kerala Blasters with a scoreline of 1-1.
There were ample chances for both the sides in the whole match. Even as the game got even more neck to neck during the latter half, there was nothing to choose between the sides in the match 59 of the Hero Indian Super League, played at the Tilak Maidan Stadium.
Their last match against each other also ended up in a draw surprisingly, and what were the odds that today’s match too ended up with the same result! From the get-go, it seemed like an evenly matched contest as both teams fought it out relentlessly in the field yet there were no goals in the first half. It took them 64 minutes of playtime to score the first goal of the match.
The deadlock was finally broken as Jordan Murray scored off an Albino Gomes assist. It was a long ball from their keeper Albino Gomes as Jordan Murray received it and made an off-balance shot towards the goal. Debjit Majumder‘s attempt to parry the ball away went in vain as it beat him and went into the goal. It was the first by an Indian and second overall assist by a goalkeeper in Hero ISL.
The goal fired up the Kerala Blasters unit and they attempted to increase their lead. SC East Bengal too buckled up and started playing more fast-paced football. Both the teams introduced substitutions one after another to amp up their chances with the fresh legs. Again, even though there were ample opportunities created, none were converted until the extra time after the regulation 90 minutes.
The unputdownable attitude of SC East Bengal came out to play when Bright Enobakhare took an inch-perfect corner and curled the ball towards Scott Neville. The Australian out-jumped everyone in the penalty area and headed it backwards for a perfect finish. He celebrated his goal along with his ecstatic teammates as the Kerala Blasters stood heartbroken in disbelief.
HERO OF THE MATCH: SAHAR ABDUL SAMAD
The Club Award was shared by both the teams for the second time this season after today’s dramatic draw, and the Hero of the Match award went to Sahal Abdul Samad for his midfield creativity. The DHL Winning Pass of the Match went to Bright Enobakhare for the beautiful all-important assist for the equalising goal.
This helped SC East Bengal maintain their 6 match streak of not losing a match, after a not so impressive start to the season. They now stand in 9th place with 2 wins and 5 draws, the second-most in the draws’ tally after NorthEast United FC. They would want to grab a win in their next match against a 5th placed Chennaiyin FC on January 18th.
Kerala Blasters FC, on the other hand, stands a place lower, in the 10th place with one more loss and as many wins, and they too would want to emerge victorious in their next outing against Sunil Chhetri‘s Bengaluru FC on the 20th of January.
