Bagan fall to Samurai thrust

He believes in the Samurai philosophy, keeps his hair tied during matches as a mark of 8216;8216;respect towards opponents8217;8217;. But the rest is all about attack for East Bengal8217;s Belgian coach Philippe de Ridder8212;14 goals have come his team8217;s way in the last four matches, including the three against arch-rivals Mohun Bagan today.

For the team, the 3-1 scoreline today in the quintessential derby clash means they are four points clear of Mahindra United at the top. And the 19 goals they have scored so far is the highest in the league 8212; Bhaichung Bhutia, who opened the scoring today, has nine in his bag and is the joint top-scorer.

More importantly, East Bengal have got into the winning habit. They now have logged four straight wins against teams like defending champions Dempo, last year8217;s runners-up Sporting Clube de Goa, Mohammedan Sporting and now Bagan.

Credit here, must go to Ridder. He has transformed East Bengal8217;s season by doing what his predecessors never dared to. He has fielded greenhorns and bench-warmers like defender Anupam Sarkar and striker Gouranga Dutta, who got his side8217;s third goal today. East Bengal8217;s second goal came from S. Malsawmpluanga, after which Bagan drew some consolation through Mehtab Hussain.