East Bengal Edge Past Indian Army to Reach Durand Cup Semi-Finals
East Bengal may not have expected the match to be this challenging. But the Indian Army put up a spirited fight and made the contest a closely fought affair, forcing the Red and Gold Brigade to sweat before securing a 1-0 victory. PV Vishnu scored the only goal of the match as East Bengal booked their place in the Durand Cup semi-finals.
XtraTime Web Desk
East Bengal may not have expected the match to be this challenging. But the Indian Army put up a spirited fight and made the contest a closely fought affair, forcing the Red and Gold Brigade to sweat before securing a 1-0 victory. PV Vishnu scored the only goal of the match as East Bengal booked their place in the Durand Cup semi-finals.
Antonio Lopez Habas made six to seven changes to his starting XI, yet East Bengal dominated proceedings for large periods of the first half. They created several chances through their continuous attacking moves, but Danny Ramirez and Vishnu missed some good opportunities.
The breakthrough eventually came from the left. Ekomidias delivered a precise cross into the box, and PV Vishnu rose to head the ball home and give East Bengal the lead.
Jay Gupta was particularly impressive and looked composed throughout his outing. Rohit Kumar also showed enough promise to suggest that he could develop into a dependable option. Gehlot, making his first appearance in the tournament, also put in a decent performance.
East Bengal, however, lost some of their rhythm after the break, allowing the Indian Army to make a strong comeback. The Army side matched East Bengal for intensity and kept the Red and Gold supporters on edge.
Jason Cummings missed a golden opportunity when Danny Ramirez played a brilliant defence-splitting through ball from midfield. Bipin Singh collected it on the right and squared the ball across goal, but Jason Tikka failed to make contact. Moments later, Bipin himself missed a similar chance after Jason Tikka's back-centre.
There is no extra time in the Durand Cup. If a match is level after 90 minutes, the winner is decided directly through a penalty shootout. Therefore, with East Bengal holding only a one-goal advantage, the pressure mounted as the Indian Army pushed hard in the closing stages.
In the end, however, Vishnu's first-half header proved decisive. East Bengal held on to their slender lead and secured their ticket to the Durand Cup semi-finals.
