ISL 2025-26: East Bengal head coach Oscar Bruzon credits defense after 4-1 victory against SC Delhi

East Bengal registered a commanding comeback win over SC Delhi at Saltlake Stadium.

Another big win for Oscar Bruzon‘s Torchbearers, who retain their spot at the top of the ISL table. It was an absolute goalfest in Kolkata. Once again Miguel Figueira, Edmund Lalrindika and Youssef Ezzejjari have the points kept safe in their pockets for East Bengal FC in  Indian Super League (ISL) 2025–26.

Fans came in large numbers as it was an early evening weekend game at the iconic Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata and an attacking display from Oscar Bruzon’s Red and Gold Brigade saw them claw back from a goal down to grab all the three points at the home turf.

Oscar Bruzon praises All-Indian backline after dominant 4-1 victory

After the game Oscar stated: “We started the game in a dominating way but conceded an early goal. The players of SC Delhi were creating pressure and moving forward through our stretched defense where we were penalized, and Jay made a mistake but later on we scored and our defense played really well. We focused on build-up playing from the backline which started from our goalkeeper. And I am happy that my players played in the way that I told them to play and they delivered. “

“We then moved back to 4-4-2 combination, and I am happy with my Indian defenders and the backline. The way Anwar, Jeakson, Nunga, Jay supported each other and played the match was very good. Edmund was also playing a bit close to Rashid so that he can help defense line. And Edmund should be one of the highlighted players today as he was used a linking player. So, I am happy and it’s the first time that East Bengal have won both their opening games in the ISL.”

“As I have already said that we are team that not only defends but will also attack and try to score goals from the mistakes of our opposition.”

“If the team can perform the way that we are performing without the three foreigners Saul, Anton, and Kevin, without Rakip, without Mahesh, and if we can perform this way I think our future is beautiful and the peak of our performance is still yet to come. Of course, I prefer to play with all the foreigners but today I have to play with Jeakson, Gill, Anwar and Nunga and also the wingers because sometimes in the game they have to complete that line of form as I explained before to counter them.” he added.

Oscar Bruzon explains Anton’s omission, Saul’s absence and early setback

The Spaniard stated: “I don’t like tell all these things in the press conference, but Anton is fully fit and was not included in the squad today as his registration was not completed in time. And Saul was unavailable due to a muscle pull.”

“What can I say I would be happier with a clean sheet but if you count the number of opportunities of the league today and our number of opportunities I think we were the best team on the pitch today. So, if you attack well and you capitalize and the risk is conceiving more chances to the opponent, I have no problem.”

“I just explained that the first action of the game, the first goal that we concede probably is an action that we should not rush to score the goal. And in that goal kick the goal is coming from a full build-up from the goal kick, so all our players were letting the pressure. And as I explained in the first moments of the game the problem that we had is the distance between the no 1 and Jay, so we need to act because it was looking that they were understanding very well how to create superiorities in the mix and in that moment penetrate passes between the distances of our full-backs. So that is one of the points that we corrected and from the minute 15 or 20 especially after the first goal we scored, I think from that moment our team, as you say was looking much more composed.” he said.

Views on the early threat created by SC Delhi and regarding East Bengal’s next opponent Jamshedpur

The Spaniard praised his opponent SC Delhi and said that: “They played really well and were creating a lot of chances by penetrating through our defenders in the first half to penalize us. They played a completely different game compared to their last game against Bengaluru, as they were utilizing the width of the pitch more with their young players and penetrating through our defenders. They were a very tough opponent indeed.”

“Jamshedpur FC will be a tough team to beat in our next game. We need to plan really well to beat a tough opponent like Jamshedpur as they also have quite a few former players from East Bengal like Talal, Messi Bouli, Mark. So, it will be not easy for us. But again, as I have told, this time every opponent is tough as the league is more competitive and a more concise one in terms of number of matches.”

“But at the same time East Bengal have won two back-back matches in the start of the league, so we can also win three consecutive matches in a row and create a new record as well.” he finished off.

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