ISL 2022-23: Cleiton Silva's brace allows East Bengal to seal convincing win over Jamshedpur FC
ISL 2022-23: East Bengal is having a decent time in the tournament this season. On Sunday, it hammered Jamshedpur FC 3-1 away from home to rise to eighth place.
FollowEast Bengal (EB) dished out a top display of counter-attacking football as they sealed a 3-1 win against Jamshedpur FC (JFC) in the 2022-23 Indian Super League (ISL) at the JRD Tata Sports Complex in Jamshedpur on Sunday. Both teams had made a host of changes -- three from the visitors and four from the home team -- following last week's results, but the Torch Bearers put behind the disappointment of throwing away a two-goal lead to seal three points this time around. EB took control of the game early on as Suhair VP put them in front just 90 seconds into the game.
JFC was caught napping during a throw-in routine and allowed too much space for Naorem Singh to lift his head and put in a dipping cross towards the far post. Suhair produced a low-diving header to slot the ball into the net. Cleiton Silva would soon get into the action to put EB 2-0 ahead in the first half for the second game in a row.
In the 26th minute, Silva picked up the ball after a JFC corner and drove it forward before releasing Naorem on the left. Naorem kept the defenders at bay as Silva made a lung-busting run towards the box to receive the second of Naorem's inch-perfect deliveries of the night. Silva rose with the ball on the bounce to slot it in.
Jamshedpur started making moves after that wake-up call, with Jay Emmanuel-Thomas finding himself in a great position in the first half, where the teams combined 13 shots on target. Towards the end of the half, JFC was awarded a penalty after Lalchungnunga was found to have elbowed Harry Sawyer while contesting a header. Thomas got his chance to get on the scoresheet and took it to make it 2-1 at half-time.
Having been caught after being 2-0 up in their last game, EB came out in the second half determined to stretch their lead. Naorem was on hand once again to produce the magic. He picked up the ball on the left side and slipped a perfect grounded pass between the two central defenders and the goalkeeper as Silva burst through to find his second goal of the night.
That 58th-minute goal also put Silva on top of the scoring chart for this season. After securing another two-goal lead through the attack, EB solidified in defence, providing fewer scoring chances for JFC in the second half and sealing three points on the road. The loss was JFC's fourth in a row, and it now sits in 10th place with four points in seven games. It stays at home to host Kerala Blasters (KBFC) on December 4. EB's third win of the season pushed it up to eighth place with nine points from eight games. It now gets a two-week break before it travels to Hyderabad on December 9.
(With inputs from PTI)
