Talking Points: Are East Bengal missing an outright goalscorer?

Jaime Santos Colado and Vidyasagar Singh scored the goals as the Red and Gold defeated Army Red on Saturday afternoon.

The proceedings in Group A of the oldest tournament of Asia, Durand Cup, have started as East Bengal beat Army Red 2-0 courtesy of goals from Jamie Colado and youngster Vidyasagar Singh in the second matchday.

The win is an important one for the Red and Gold as they are in a group with ISL sides Bengaluru FC and Jamshedpur FC. The significance multiplies when we consider the fact that only one of these four will progress to the next round.

We at Khel Now take a look at the five talking points from the game;

5. Were Army Red wrong to play a high defensive line in the first half?

Army Red played a very high defensive line against the Kolkata giants and their back four were highly disorganised, allowing the likes of Colado and Boithang Haokip to get behind them easily without being caught offside.

The poor backline management resulted in an equally poor offside trap and thus helped East Bengal massively in the first half when their attacks were unidimensional - long balls from midfield for Colado and Boithang to chase, through which the two players could find themselves in one-on-one situations against the Army Red goalkeeper.

4. Are East Bengal missing an outright goalscorer?

Jobby Justin was one of the best Indian strikers last season in the I-League. The Kerala-born forward was East Bengal's best bet in front of goal and he managed to score a massive nine goals with four assists in the league. However, with Justin joining city counterparts ATK, there has been a need for the Red and Gold to find someone as good as, if not better than him - someone who could lead the attack and score goals.

While East Bengal could very easily find spaces behind the defenders, the finish was missing for the first 80-odd minutes of the game. Boithang came very close to scoring twice, but the former Bengaluru player was left wanting and frustrated. The Red and Gold would have to find a way of scoring goals, if they want to be taken seriously after the selling of the important players from last season's campaign.

3. Was Lalrindika Ralte given too much space in the middle of the park by Army Red?

Army Red played with a formation that had a destroyer along with three other holding midfielders. Along with the midfielders, the back four played very high up the pitch. Yet. the defence and midfield of the Army failed to suffocate East Bengal's main orchestrator in attack, Lalrindika Ralte.

The 26-year-old captain of East Bengal, could operate easily from the middle of the park and was able to find space to launch all the long balls that created chances upfront for the Kolkata giants. The inability of the Army midfielders to close down Ralte and to pressure him into losing possession cost them over the course of the game.

2. Did Army Red give up too early?

The Army side went toe-to-toe with East Bengal from the word go in the first half. The Armed Forces team competing so well against the Kolkata giants set the tone for the game and made it an interesting one. However, after the first half, Army Red decided to sit back and defend and try to take a point from the encounter.

The visitors defended very deep in the second 45 minutes and tried all possible ways to block every East Bengal attempt on goal. But, a single moment of brilliance from Colado had the Army side a goal behind, with just seven minutes to full-time. Vidyasagar later doubled the lead by scoring in the dying minutes of the game.

1. Was Vidyasagar Singh coming in the turning point of the game?

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East Bengal looked hapless in front of goal - thanks to poor finishing and hard luck. The likes of Colado and Haokip were denied by the woodwork and the team needed a change in fortunes.

Vidyasagar's substitution turned out to be that move which would go on to give life to the struggling Red and Gold attack. The youngster won his side the free-kick, through which Colado scored after dribbling his way past the goalkeeper and forcing him to foul him in front of the box. While he netted the second goal that sealed the deal for his side.