East Bengal succumbed to a 1-0 defeat against George Telegraph in their Calcutta Football League (CFL) opener, courtesy of a late goal from Justice Morgan at their home ground on Friday afternoon.
Alejandro Menendez made eight changes to the side that trounced Jamshedpur FC 6-0 in Durand Cup. Marti Crespi made his debut for East Bengal but apart from him there was no other overseas player available for selection as East Bengal had failed to register the likes of Borja Perez, Kassim Aidara with the Indian Football Association (IFA) within the stipulated time.
It was a lackluster first half from both sides. In the absence of Jaime Colado upfront, East Bengal lacked the creative imagination in the attacking third. Whereas, George Telegraph was content to lock down their mighty opponents at the centre of the park by not allowing the red and gold midfielders to settle down.
The match was dominated by aimless long balls and a flurry of mispasses with both teams struggling to create any significant goal-scoring chance in the opening 30 minutes.
In the 32nd minute, Dagar lost his footing while clearing a back-pass from Crespi but the Spanish defender was alert to head the ball away for a corner to avert the danger.
It was individual brilliance from Joel Sunday which helped him rip apart East Bengal’s defense with a solo run but his final pass had too much weight for winger Tanmoy Ghosh to latch on to.
Just after the 40th-minute mark, a golden opportunity befell East Bengal's Subhonil Ghosh to put his team in front but the young midfielder missed a simple tap in from handshaking distance of goal after Abhijit Sarkar set him up with an inch-perfect low cross from the right side of the penalty box.
After the resumption of play, it was George Telegraph who got the first sight at goal in the 50th minute when Rajib Shaw’s long-ranger had beaten Dagar but bounced off the crossbar.
Immediately, after this Menendez made a double change to shake things up in the attacking third by bringing on Pintu Mahata and PC Rohlupuia. Brandon Vanlalremdika followed them soon on the pitch as the former Real Madrid Castilla coach looked desperate to draw first blood.
The fresh legs certainly reinvigorated East Bengal’s attacks but George Telegraph’s defence led by the experienced Celestine Echezona proved to be a tough nut to crack.
When the match seemed destined to end on level terms, Justice Morgan stunned a packed East Bengal stadium when he found the net with a grounded left-footer in the 93rd minute. Substitute Arun Suresh managed to slip the ball through East Bengal’s defence for the Nigerian who kept his calm and slotted the ball beyond the reach of Dagar into the bottom right corner.
With this win, George Telegraph move to the top of the table after picking up their third straight win in CFL. Whereas, East Bengal will return to action on August 14, against Bengaluru FC in the Durand Cup.
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