10 Men East Bengal Club couldn't hold on to a goalless draw against Churchill Brothers SC to go down by a goal in an exciting I-League match at Saltlake stadium, Calcutta. Churchill Brothers with now 32 points from 16 matches are level on points with league leaders Dempo SC but behind them on goal difference whereas East Bengal are still fighting to escape relegation with only 15 points.
The match made a slow start with East Bengal not as aggressive as in their past three matches, while Churchill Brothers were testing waters initially with their highly rated African attack of Odafe Onyeka Okolie and Mboyo Iyomi heavily marked by the East Bengal defence. But it was to be these two men to have a first look on goal. In the 15th minute a brilliant Mboyo header is acrobatically saved by Subrata Pal. And only three minutes later an Odafe freekick just goes over the crossbar due to a deflection. East Bengal had their first chance through captain and stand-in striker Syed Rahim Nabi, but his weak shot went directly into the hands of Churchill goalkeeper Vinay Singh. Thereafter East Bengal were reduced to 10 men after a kung-fu style tackle from Jayanta Sen against Naoba Singh which resulted in a meelee amongst the players, but referee Arjunan kept his cool and ejected Jayanta for a harsh foul, while outside East Bengal supporters started throwing bottles into the ground. Odafe took the freekick and found Mboyo inside the box but he was also cautioned as he used his hand to score. Thereafter East Bengal seemed to have more focus with only 10 men on the field as they tried to put some attack's together. In the 36th minute a Mehtab Hussain 30 metre volley went straight into the hands of Vinay Singh, who happened to be in the right position. In the last minute of regulation time a Surkumar Singh longranger finds Nabi in the Churchill box with Gouramangi Singh unable to clear but he fails to control the ball as Govind Singh clears it for a corner. Just before the interval Odafe manages to enter the East Bengal box but he is well blocked by the East Bengal defence.
Churchill Brothers seemed to come out with a little more purpose after the lemon break with East Bengal looking rather subdued. Odafe missed a golden opportunity just after the interval as his lob went over the crossbar and in the 51st minute Odafe's touch from the 6 yard box went just outside the post. The Goans kept up the pressure and in the 68th minute Mboyo's header went straight into Subrata's hands and in the 75th minute follow a corner Govind's shot from inside the box beats Subrata but goes over the crossbar. But in the 77th minute Mboyo Iyomi scores the goal of the day. A superb cross from Naoba Singh from the right finds the head of Mboyo who beats the outstretched hands of Subrata Pal. Only a minute later Robert Lalthalma could have doubled the lead but he fails to control the ball. On the other side only another minute later after flick on Chandan Das volley's the ball just over the crossbar. Churchill Brothers now fell back with East Bengal trying to create some pressure but the lack of a genuine striker exposed their main problem with Vanlal Rova or Mehtab Hussain missing good chances. In injury time Churchill could have once more doubled the lead but Mboyo blasted the ball over from just a few yards out.
Churchill Brothers dominated the second half over East Bengal, courtesy to the combination of Odafe, Iyomi and Naoba. Still Subrata Pal did a fantastic job to keep the scoreline at only 0-1.
East Bengal now travel south to face Viva Kerala next Sunday in Calicut what is a crucial match to decide the relegation spots, while Churchill Brothers have a Goan derby against Sporting Clube de Goa on Saturday to keep their title hunt going.

Post-match press conference...

Karim Bencharifa (Coach, Churchill Brothers)
• The bottomline is we've to win our next two game to remain in the title race.
• First half we could've done better, but I'm happy with the boys performane in the second half. They played really well in the second half even though they are playing aginst the home support.
• Churchill played an attacking football with 3-4-3 formation & exposed their defence to the opponents. There was a possibility of scoring more goals as well as conceding goals under this formation.
• Referee is the best judge and it's a part of football (on Jayanta's tackle).
• Subrata Pal is a goalkeeper in the form and though East Bengal were down to 10 men but they were actually 12 as Subrata is equivalent to 3 men.
• Churchill are the dark horse and Dempo as the best side though under pressure after losing a few points.
• None of the teams are weak in NFL and this has been proved in the Mohun Bagan vs Salgaocar match.
• It's better for Indian football as I-League title race gets tougher and it will be a good finish as there is a close competetion.

Manoranjan Bhattacharya (Coach, East Bengal Club)
• My team is not yet saved from the relegation and still needs three more points. The team is in a better shape since I took up the charge and you will be always under pressure when coaching a big team like East Bengal.
• I didn't put Edmilson into the team as he is feeling pain in his leg and i don't want to put any unfit or unwilling players into the team.
• Alvito needs seven days to recover from his injury, as he mentioned to me.