West Bengal win a one-sided affair

Bhutia was surely East Bengal’s hardest worker on the field today, a sharp contrast from the previous matches. Following the ball everywhere, he even fell back to help the defence foil a few Sporting attacks. That was in the initial period of the game, before Sporting lost their way.

The Sikkimese boy found the cross-piece denying him the first goal in the fourth minute of the game. A powerful throw-in from Naushad Moosa found Bhutia jumping for the header. The ball hit the cross-piece and came back into play. Alert Haq, clear of the Sporting defenders, rose to head the ricochet. This time, East Bengal were not to be denied. Goal Number One and the defending champions were well on the road to victory.

Tushar Rakshit replaced a limping Renedy Singh in the East Bengal midfield just 15 minutes into the game and almost immediately missed a scoring chance. He was a little late in lunging for a Somatai Saiza cross. However, East Bengal did not have to wait long for the second goal. Haq aimed a floater for an unmarked Bhutia at the top of the box. An extraordinary header by Bhutia from a very difficult angle again hit the cross-piece and on its way down, brushed defender Sujoy Chakraborty’s hand. The referee Basco Pereira blew the whistle, pointed to the penalty spot and gave Chakraborty the marching order. Moosa converted the spotkick without any sweat. Twenty minutes into the game and Sporting were two goals and a man down.

Not quite satisfied with `creating’ the goals, Bhutia finally got the third in the 26th minute, this time making sure the cross-piece did get in the way. It all started with Sporting striker Sanjay Majhi breaching the East Bengal defence. Majhi’s right-footer also came back after hitting the cross-piece, paving the way for a counter-move. A couple of clearances and the ball reached Bhutia at the top of the Sporting box. A deft turn to wrong-foot the defenders and a scorching grounder past the diving Sporting goalkeeper Arpan Dey. Goal Number Three and the Sporting shoulders had started sagging.

The remaining part of the first half was played under rain, which considerably slowed down the game and forced the players on the defensive rather than risk injury. In the second half, the only worthwhile move resulted in the fourth goal for East Bengal. Abdul Sadiq trapped a pass from Ilyas Pasha on the right and crossed a floater for Nazimul Haq. The forward just had to follow the flight of the ball and head in with Dey in no position to make a save. Later, Bhutia, substituted midway through the second half, was cheered all to the way to the bench by fans. East Bengal now meet traditional rivals Mohun Bagan in the semi-final here on July 13.