KOLKATA: Churchill Brothers produced a fitting reply to their first-leg loss when they reverted the 3-0 scoreline visiting East Bengal at Salt Lake Stadium, here, Saturday. Henry Antchouet was on target twice in the first half while his second half substitute Akhram Moghrabi nodded home the third to help the Goa giants avenge their first-leg loss against the same opponent.
| SUPERB OPENER: The Churchill Brothers players celebrating after scoring a goal against East Bengal at Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata, Saturday. |
The win cemented Churchill Brothers’ stay on top of the League standings as the team collected three more points to tally 37 points from 15 matches. East Bengal remained on 33 points from 17 matches and saw their title hopes suffering a big blow.
The Goan side literally outplayed East Bengal and such was the dominance that Churchill goalkeeper Sandip Nandy never faced a tough challenge throughout the match. The two goals in the first half spoke of Churchill Brothers effective organization in both attack and midfield.
The League leader showed why they have been enjoying an unbeaten run in the last eight rounds and gained a commanding hold over the proceedings in the first half. The visitors showed better felicity on the flanks and that helped them attack more vigorously.
Henry Antchouet made his first contact with the ball in the seventh minute but his header was off the mark. Churchill Brothers kept up the momentum and forced regular attacks mounting pressure on the home side.
The East Bengal citadel finally crumbled in the 34th minute when Henry scored with a clever flick to divert home an attempt by his midfielder Steven Dias. East Bengal strikers Edeh Chidi and Robin Singh made several efforts to find the equalizer but failed to find the right touch that could beat Churchill Brothers’ well-knit defence.
Henry doubled the lead a minute from the interval getting the most of another provision from Steven Dias.
East Bengal tried to regroup after the break but the home team continued to suffer from the attacking blues as the visitors remained steadfast in defence under their Lebanese stopper-back Bilal El Najjarine.
Despite getting some control over the midfield action East Bengal looked unsettled in the striking zone as Chidi, Robin and later substitute Manandeep Singh failed to decisively open up the opponent back-line. Moghrabi, who came in as a late replacement for Henry, ended the scoring process when he nodded home a free-kick from Steven Dias in the 82nd minute to complete the dominance of the visitors.
