East Bengal fought bravely until the final whistle, but a late penalty equaliser dashed their playoff hopes as Bengaluru FC secured a crucial draw in the Indian Super League. Despite their relentless efforts, Dimitrios Diamantakos’ red card before half-time proved costly for the home side.
Twenty minutes before kick-off, Salt Lake Stadium was buzzing with anticipation. Fans in red and yellow were in numbers, clinging to faint hopes of their team making it to the playoffs. However, deep down, they knew the challenge was immense as East Bengal faced fourth-placed Bengaluru FC.
Yet, East Bengal started in dominant fashion, defying their lowly position in the points table. Oscar Bruzon’s side took an attacking approach from the outset and looked far more threatening inside the opposition’s box than the visitors. Their persistence paid off in the 11th minute when Messi Bouli latched onto a Saul Crespo assist and drilled the ball past Gurpreet Singh Sandhu into the bottom left corner.
Two minutes later, against the run of play, Sunil Chhetri almost silenced the home crowd. He met Ryan Williams’ floating cross from the right, but Prabhsukhan Gill pulled off a brilliant save, stretching to his right to deny the former India captain.
East Bengal winger PV Vishnu had two golden chances to put his team ahead. In the 10th minute, he failed to find the back of the net from Diamantakos’ cutback, while in the 26th minute, he blasted Bouli’s cross over the bar. Had he converted those opportunities, East Bengal could have gone into half-time with a three-goal cushion. Instead, disaster struck as versatile defender Anwar Ali limped off with a hamstring injury, forcing Bruzon to bring in Jeakson Singh. Matters worsened when Diamantakos was sent off just before following a heated exchange with Alberto Noguera.
With a man down, Bruzon was forced to fall back on a more defensive approach, switching to 5-3-1. He introduced Nishu Kumar as a left wing-back in place of Provat Lakra, while shifting Souvik Chakrabarti to the right. Richard Celis and David Lalhlansanga were brought on, replacing Vishnu and Bouli, to inject fresh energy into the attack.
Despite being a man down, East Bengal defended resolutely and even created chances. Chakrabarti forced Gurpreet into a save with a long-range attempt from outside the box. Moments later, David almost became the hero, but he failed to beat Gurpreet from a one-on-one situation from the left side of the box.
Bengaluru, however, increased the intensity in search of an equaliser. In the 80th minute, Aleksandar Jovanović’s header from Roshan Singh’s corner struck the post, much to the relief of the 17,000 East Bengal fans.
But their joy was short-lived. In the 90th minute, Mohammad Salah’s cross into the box struck Nishu’s hand as he attempted to clear it, conceding a penalty. Chhetri stepped up and calmly slotted the ball into the bottom right corner, sending Gill the wrong way to secure a last-minute equaliser.
With their hopes of finishing in the top six over, East Bengal’s focus shifts to the AFC Challenge League, where they will face Turkmenistan’s FK Arkadag on March 5 at Salt Lake Stadium. After a disappointing end to their ISL campaign, Bruzon’s men will aim to make an impact on the continental stage.