I-League 2015/16 – Bello Razaq's late winner reignites East Bengal's title challenge
Bello Razaq could have possibly repeated his feat of scoring a decisive goal in the title race, like he did last season, as his header gave East Bengal a crucial 2-1 win over Salgaocar at the Barasat Stadium. The win takes them to second in the points table, just one point behind league leaders Mohun Bagan.
East Bengal: Barreto (GK), Rahul, Razaq, Arnab (C), Saumik; Rafique, Mehtab, Mendy, Jairu; Rafique, Martins
Salgaocar: Karanjit (GK)(C); Reagan, Eder, Augustin, Gilbert, Darryl Duffy Oliveira, Brian Mascarenhas, Pawan Kumar, Martin Scott, Calvin Mbarga, Semboi Haokip
The home side started the match on the front foot, with Ranti Martins testing the goalkeeper with a shot from outside box in the 10th minute.
The Goan side did enjoy a lot of space and time on their left wing though, as Rahul Bheke struggled at the back. Eventually, Bernard Mendy had to move to cover for the right back, specially with Darryl Duffy drifting wide as well.
East Bengal kept dominating the possession though, and a host of their chances were broken down by the off-side flag. But it seemed only a matter of time before a player timed his run properly to beat the off-side trap.
Finally, the home side were able to convert their dominance into a goal in the 38th minute. After a patient buildup from the back, Mehtab Hossain played Mohammed Rafique through on goal with a delightfully disguised reverse pass, and this time the flag stayed down. The 23-year-old drifted past his marker, before poking it past Karanjit Singh in the Salgaocar goal. The goalkeeper should have definitely done better with a shot, which was not placed as well as Rafique would have liked.
East Bengal kept up the pressure on Salgaocar in the second half, and pushed higher up the pitch in order to close down the spaces. However, Salgaocar equalized, almost against the run of play, in the 65th minute and made it 1-1.
Augustin Fernandes picked out Darryl Duffy inside the box with a long ball, and the striker's header was deflected into the back of the net off Rahul Bheke.
With the clock ticking down, it seemed like East Bengal would fail to take advantage of the points Bengaluru dropped against Mohun Bagan in their last match. But Bello Razaq, the man whose goal against Bengaluru gifted the title to Mohun Bagan last season, stepped up and put East Bengal's title charge on track.
Sanju Pradhan delivered his third successive corner in the 83rd minute, and this time Razaq climbed up and his header bounced into back of the net.
That proved to be the winner, and with it East Bengal have moved above Bengaluru FC, into second place, in the league table, with just one point separating them from their arch rivals Mohun Bagan at the halfway mark of the season.