Imphal: East Bengal earned their first win of the I-League 2019-20 season as they overpowered hosts NEROCA FC by a margin of 4-1 at the Khuman Lampak Stadium in Imphal on Tuesday. Jaime Colado, who was adjudged as the Hero of the Match, converted twice from the penalty spot besides Juan Mera and Marcus Espada who scored their second goals of the campaign. Diara scored one consolation goal for the Oranges but that couldn't stop the inevitable.
With the win, East Bengal are now placed third in the league table with five points from three matches while NEROCA FC stay seventh with three points in an as many games.
The determination of East Bengal was evident right from the first minute after narrow draws in their prevous two matches. First, Juan Mera's cross just eluded Santos Colado and within the next few seconds, Santos' cross was headed by Marcos but a weak attempt posed no problem for NEROCA keeper Marvin Philip.
In the 19th minute, it look like East Bengal had the lead through an own goal by Taryk Sampson but it was disallowed by the referee. However, the next minute itself, Juan Mera was brought down by Shaikhom Ronald Singh inside the penalty box and the referee pointed to the spot without any hesitation.
Jamie Santos Colado stepped up and slotted it home and with that the visitors had the lead.
Gift Raikhan's side pressed hard after falling behind in pursuit of an equaliser and were rewarded soon after. In the 31st minute, Taryk's long pass found Chanso Horam who did well to keep the ball in play and squeezed in a perfect cross for Bou Bacar Diara, who just tapped in the ball home.
But the home team's happiness did not last long as East Bengal took the lead once again just two minutes later. Marcos was brought down just at the edge of the NEROCA penalty box giving East Bengal a set-piece chance, which was converted Juan Mera. The Spaniard's left-footed effort edged past the NEROCA goalkeeper to restore his side's advantage going into the break.
Both the sides started the second half in similar tempo but East Bengal were awarded their second penalty of the match in the 50th minute when Espada's move led to a handball offence from NEROCA inside the penalty area. Colado stood up once again from the spot and converted the kick to increase the visitors' advantage.
In the 65th minute, Pintu Mahata's cross, beat an outstretched Philip to find an unmarked Marcus, who headed in an easy goal to further extend East Bengal's advantage to 4-1. Minutes later, they had a chance for a fifth but Abhishek Ambekar's powerful shot was blocked by Philip.
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