East Bengal begin Super Cup campaign with a point | HERO SUPER CUP 2023

East Bengal and Odisha FC played out a 1-1 draw in their first game of the Super Cup 2023 at the Payyanad Stadium. With the points shared, the two sides have one point each in Group B.

Coach Stephen Constantine earlier turned heads by opting to go with an Indian backline, handing a debut to Athul Unnikrishnan. Odisha started out the half strong, threatening to go ahead but the red and gold defence succeeded in keeping a dangerous looking Mauricio at bay.

We took the lead in the 38th minute when Odisha defender Narender Gahlot gave the ball away, allowing Mobashir to take advantage of a one on one situation with Odisha custodian Amrinder. Moba made no mistake and his curling effort gave us the crucial lead going into half time.

After halftime,we took control of the game, with Jake Jervis coming twice close to scoring. In the 50th minute, Amrinder Singh denied Jervis his 2nd goal in EB colours, pulling off a dramatic save to deny Jervis’s grounded effort.

Chances were plentiful at both ends of the pitch, however it was Odisha who made one count as Mauricio beat Athul on the left flank and cut one back to Nandha who finished calmly to give Odisha the equaliser in the 72nd minute. The final 20 minutes featured some end to end football with Jake coming agonisingly close to a winner in the dying minutes of the game. The final whistle was blown shortly after ending the tie in a stalemate, with both sides taking away a point from the game.

At the post match conference, Coach Stephen Constantine regretted the missed opportunities but admitted that such things can happen when a team comes back from a long break. The Coach also felt that on the balance of play, East Bengal FC deserved all 3 points from the game and praised Mobashir Rahman’s continued development through the season.