MUMBAI, NOV 24: East Bengal, Calcutta, fought back from a goal down to make the semifinals of the Bristol Rovers Cup football tournament with a 3-1 (half-time 2-1) annihilation of Salgaocar, Goa, at the Cooperage here tonight.The IFA Shield's North Eastern brigade comprising Baichung Bhutia, Bijen Singh and Somatai Saiza along with Kenyan powerhouse Samuel Omollo, paved way for a clinical victory - sweet revenge for the Calcutta side's shock defeat in front of their own fans in the Federation Cup final.But victory came at a price. Seven yellow cards were shown by referee Sethumadhavan, four to the Calcutta side. Two of those bookings will sit out skipper Dulal Biswas and Naushad Moosa in the semifinals.The result sends holders Salgaocar out of the tournament after the Goan side needed only a draw to progress to the last-four stage. JCT, winners of Group Y, take on Mohun Bagan, runners-up in Group X, in tomorrow's semifinal. East Bengal play Churchill Brothers on Wednesday to decide Friday's final line up.Saiza scored twice to take his tally to five goals in the tournament with Baichung Bhutia, back from injury, netting the other after Venkatesh gave the Goan side an early lead.The match transpired to be a nightmare for Salgaocar's defence and a personal disaster for Robert Fernandes. The defender almost compounded misery with a self-goal late in the match after deflecting the first East Bengal strike past goalkeeper Upendra Mansingh.East Bengal welcomed technical director PK Banerjee who joined the side yesterday. Transforming character tonight, the Calcutta side put back a bad performance against JCT in their last match with a fluent display, unperturbed by an early reverse.With goalkeeping and a weak left-side defence casting doubts, the Calcutta side did well to recover from a shaky start that saw Salgaocar skipper Bruno Coutinho wreaking havoc in the Calcutta side's area with a series of well placed corners.Salgaocar's second flag-kick in the fourth minute, forced by Nigerean Jude Odegah, led to Venkatesh shooting into goalkeeper Kalyan Chaubey who sprawled beyond the goalline.Coutinho threatened with two more corners before East Bengal came into their own. With Bhutia's presence captivating the audience, the National League top scorer threatened with a header that sailed across an open goal.Saiza seems to have eased into the Calcutta team's scheme this year. The little striker restored parity, courtesy a deflection from the unfortunate Robert Fernandes in the 18th minute.Golden goal scorer of the IFA Shield final, Bijen Singh, joined Bhutia and Saiza in the revelry. Coutinho and Odegah strove to salvage the situation upfront for the Goans and a phase of domination caused anxiety for East Bengal as Roque Pereira and the African threatened.Saiza put East Bengal ahead with a gem. A free-kick taken 25-yards out after Robert Fernandes fouled Bhutia saw `Soso' execute a left-footer that dipped nicely into the left of Mansingh's goal in the 38th minute.East Bengal, on a roll and improving remarkably in defence, kept the dangerous Odegah in check but Salgaocar still threatened through Venkatesh and Sanaton Singh, combining dangerously on two occasions.Vital lack of inches denied Sanaton heading into goal from a cross by Venkatesh shortly after the interval. With the match still open, East Bengal custodian Chaubey brought off a grand save.Instead of level-pegging, it turned out to be 1-3 as a great run by Omollo paved way to finishing the match as a contest.The Kenyan national skipper produced a powerful grounder that Mansingh did well to block. Bhutia buried the rebound and Salgaocar's hopes amid a demoralised defence in the 66th minute.
