Kyriacou makes sure East Bengal ends 10-game winless run in ISL

East Bengal defeated NorthEast United FC 3-1 on Thursday at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati. It was Cleiton Silva, Charis Kyriacou, and Jordan O'Doherty who netted the goals for the Red and Gold as Matt Derbyshire got back a consolation for the Highlanders.

This win was more special for the Kolkata-based side as it ended their winless run which spanned 10 games, and two seasons! Now, the side has propelled themselves to seventh place on the points table, while a hapless NEUFC go down to 11th place.

In the first half, it was clear that the visiting team was allowing the home team have most of the ball. However, Stephen Constantine's men were effective in putting the pressure on the NEUFC players. Like this, it was Naorem Mahesh's closing down on Md. Irshad that created the chance for Silva to give EBFC the lead at the 11th minute.

Towards the end of the first 45 minutes, NorthEast United looked threatening but the departure of midfielder Romain Philippoteaux due to an injury sucked out the creative juice from the trailing side.

Players like Sarthak Golui, from right-back, and Kyriacou, from midfield, were knocking the ball around quite well. This smooth passing led to a cross-field ball being fed to VP Suhair on the right flank who layed it off for an incoming Kyriacou. The Cypriot smashed the ball in at the first instance to double the lead.

Despite having a two-goal cushion, the Red and Gold were clearly hungry for more, and they proved that with a third goal. It was on a counter-attack when substitute Mobashir Rahman found a sprinting Jordan via a through ball, after which the Australian placed the shot past Arindam Bhattacharya and inside the net.

Marco Balbul's men were able to score their first goal of the 2022-23 season when Emil Benny's cross from the corner found Derbyshire's eager head, but it was East Bengal who will return home with all three points.