I-League 2015/16: Ranti Martins leads East Bengal past DSK Shivajians
A 30th-minute goal from Nigerian striker Ranti Martins proved to be the difference as East Bengal defeated newcomers DSK Shivajians 1-0 at the Barasat District Sports Stadium in Kolkata on Tuesday to move into the second position in the table.
Starting Lineups:
East Bengal: Rehenesh(GK), Bheke, Rassaq, Arnab(C), Saumik, Rafique, Mehtab, Ruidas, Dong-hyun, Jairu, Martins
DSK Shivajians FC: Paul (GK), Melvin, Hakku, Surchandra, Adnaik, Ongnam, Ralte, Gurung, Rafi, Dipanda(C), Pierre
After playing a 1-1 draw against Mohun Bagan in the Kolkata derby on Saturday, East Bengal coach Biswjait Bhattacharya surprisingly went into their first home match of the season against newcomers DSK Shivajians with an unchanged XI. On the other hand, the Pune team made five changes to their team that suffered a 0-2 loss away against Aizawl FC and brought in Lal Ralte, Hakku, Lobo, Gurung and Rafi for Zoding, Justin, Haroon, Don Bosco and Indrajeet.
The Kolkata team continued their favourite 4-2-3-1 formation with Do Dong-hyun playing behind Ranti Martins in the attack. DSK Shivajians coach Derrick Pereira opted for a more traditional 4-4-2 with veteran Mohammed Rafi and captain Aser Pierrick Dipanda from Cameroon leading the line.
East Bengal had the better start to the match with Do Dong-hyun testing Subrata Paul from a free kick. Incidentally, DSK’s first chance of the game also came from a free kick with Douhou Pierre sending a bullet of a kick straight at TP Rehenesh, only to see the custodian tipping it over. However, it proved to be the only real chance for the team in the first half as DSK Shivajians attacking players Israil Gurung and Douhou Pierre spent the most of the half defending East Bengal attacks.
The continuous pressure from East Bengal finally found its way into the goal in the 30th minute with Ranti Martins opening the scoring. Mohammed Rafique’s shot from Mehtab Hossian’s corner hit the crossbar and fell to Ranti Martins, who had the easy job of tapping the ball into the empty net with Subrata Paul diving the other way.
With Dong-hyun, Jairu and Ruidas running at the defence at every given opportunity, East Bengal pushed back DSK to their half and the Pune team pulled even the strikers back to the defence to keep the score line at 0-1 before the break.
It proved to be a similar story in the second half with Dong-hyun coming close to increasing the lead of the team from Kolkata. The South Korean missed two big chances within ten minutes into the second half to leave Biswjait Bhattacharya frustrated on the sidelines. DSK almost found their equaliser in the 74th minute with a lucky deflection from Israil Gurung’s shot hitting the crossbar. However, it proved to be the second defeat for DSK as East Bengal held their fort to win the game 1-0 to move to the second position in the table.
East Bengal will now host table-toppers Bengaluru FC on a top of the table clash on Saturday, while DSK Shivajians, who has one point from three games, will host defending champions Mohun Bagan in their first home game on Saturday.
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