Durand Cup 2023: Bangladesh Army shares spoils with East Bengal- Highlights
Bangladesh Army scored in the dying minutes to snatch one point from East Bengal FC.
East Bengal vs Bangladesh Army (Image via Durand Cup)
East Bengal have kicked off their new era under new head coach Carles Cuadrat on Sunday at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan, Kolkata against Bangladesh Army on Sunday. Saul Crespo put East Bengal 1-0 up in the 34th minute before Javier Siverio added another in added time in the first half.
Mohun Bagan, who put five past Bangladesh Army in their last match, are sitting pretty at the top of Group A. With only the group-toppers assured progress into the next round, East Bengal will be looking for a heavy win.
Nishu Kumar picked up a red card in the 67th minute after fouling a player off the ball. East Bengal continued to dominate despite the numerical disadvantage.
After 85 minutes the red and gold brigade slowed down, after 3 minutes Bangladesh Army got their first goal.
Sahariar Emon buried a beautiful ground ball into the bottom left corner of the net. In the 96th minute they pulled one more back, thanks to Meraj.
As it happened:
Bangladesh Army secures one point in a hard-fought game.
Bangladesh Army 2 - 2 East Bengal
Bangladesh Army scores a stoppage time goal to secure their first point in the 132nd Durand Cup. What a game, what a turnaround. Meraj the man who came in as a substitute in the last minutes has spoiled the party of East Bengal.
Bangladesh Army pulls one back. Sahariar Emon with a beautiful finish giving Gill absolutely no chance. Bangladesh army was awarded a throw in, Mehedi takes it, goes in and out the East Bengal defence fails to clear it. Sahariar was present just outside the box and he slots the ball into the net.
EBFC 2 - 1 Bangladesh Army
East Bengal are down to 10 man after Nishu Kumar picked up a red card for elbowing a player off the ball. East Bengal are on the attack instead of trying to sit back and defend.
Borja, Nandha, Suhair and Naorem Mahesh are destroying the defence of Bangladesh army. However there is no proper coordination between the four.
Nishu Kumar is given marching orders in his very first game for East Bengal.
East Bengal are awarded a free kick from a dangerous spot, as Naorem Mahesh was fouled by Hasan. Mahesh takes, the ball falls into the box but no one's able to connect it.
Asraful the goalkeeper of Bangladesh army is the one who keeps them in this game and he has done it again. Mandar Rao is advancing through the left and finds Naorem Mahesh lurking in the box. His shot is denied by Asraful.
East Bengal has a cushion lead of two nil coming into the second half of the game against Bangladesh Army.
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