ISL: Punjab FC ruin East Bengal playoffs hope, end season with a win

Indian Super League (ISL) debutants Punjab FC ended their first season with a big win over East Bengal FC and ended their playoff hopes on Wednesday.

Punjab FC swept East Bengal 4-1 with a dominant display. The terrific trio of Wilmar Jordan, Luka Majcen, and Madih Talal scored the goals for The Shers with Jordan scoring a brace.

With the win, the ISL debutants finished the season with 24 points from 22 matches. They currently occupy the eighth position in the table.

Punjab FC Head Coach Staikos Vergetis made just one change in his final starting lineup of the season with 18-year-old Manglenthlang Kipgen coming in place of Amarjit Singh Kiyam in the centre of the midfield.

East Bengal Head Coach Carles Cuadrat named a strong lineup for the all-important match with Cleiton Silva and Mahesh Singh leading the attack line.

Punjab FC started the scoring with Wilmar Jordan scoring another goal with a left-footed effort in the bottom corner. East Bengal equalized through a wonderful solo goal by youngster Sayan Banerjee.

He dispossessed Mohammed Salah in the half line dribbled past the Punjab defence and hit a left-footed curler past Ravi Kumar to equalize for The Torchbearers.

Punjab piled the pressure on the East Bengal defence and took the lead just before halftime. Madih Talal cut inside from the left wing and finished past Kamaljit Singh who got a hand to the shot but could not keep it out to stop Punjab from taking the lead. 

Punjab FC came out all guns blazing in the second half and ran East Bengal ragged who was playing a very high line of defence.

The Punjab attack line utilized the space behind by playing through balls from the deep and looked dangerous in every move. Madih Talal was driving ahead in every opportunity he got and set up the third goal in one such move teeing up Wilmar Jordan for his second goal of the match and eighth of the season.

The Frenchman then set up Luka Majcen minutes later for the fourth goal of the match as the captain scored his eighth of the season with a wonderful finish.

It was Madih Talal’s 10th assist of the season which equaled the record for the most assists in a single ISL season who is heading to East Bengal FC next season.