Kalyani: East Bengal and Real Kashmir played out an exciting 1-1 draw in the first match of I-League 2019-20 at the Kalyani Municipal Stadium on Wednesday. Although East Bengal enjoyed 64 per cent possession throughout the match, Real Kashmir scored first and then managed to come out of the match with a valuable point.
After Gnohere Krizo put the Kashmir-based side in the driver's seat in the 33rd minute, Marcos Eusebio Jimenez De La Espada Martin heeled in the equaliser in the 75th minute to provide the Red & Gold supporters with much-needed respite.
From the get-go, East Bengal looked fluent and were passing swiftly and going forward with intent. East Bengal got the first free-kick of the match in the 8th minute but a poor delivery by Juan Mera Gonzales was easily cleared by the RKFC defence line.
The Spanish combination, however, kept creating difficulties for the Real Kashmir backline. In the 14th minute, Gonzales accelerated and was almost through on goal when he was fouled by Ritwik Kumar Das, who took a yellow for the team.
Against the run of play, Real Kashmir caught East Bengal defence napping and it was none other than Krizo who scored the goal in the 33rd minute with a stupendous strike from outside the box.
East Bengal, however, were in no mood to get bogged down and soon, they came close to equalising from a corner but it was cleared off the goal line by the away team. In the dying moments of the first half, East Bengal got a clear chance when Marcos Jimenez had an open goal to shoot at but the striker shot straight into the hands of Real Kashmir goalkeeper Tempa Lachenpa.
The second half started with the same intensity with East Bengal launching attack after attack. In the 59th minute, the Red & Golds stitched another opportunity from a set-piece but young defender Mehtab Singh failed to find the back of the net.
In the 67th minute, Alejandro Menendez Garcia made his first tactical change introducing Abhijit Sarkar at the expense of defender Kamalpreet Singh. Finally, the Red & Golds scored the elusive equaliser in the 75th minute when Jimenez poked a low cross by Juan Mera from the left flank.
In the 80th minute, East Bengal got a corner but a resilient Real Kashmir defence line cleared the header by Juan Mera without much fuss.
East Bengal will next travel to Ludhiana to face-off with former champions Punjab FC on December 7 while Real Kashmir will host Gokulam Kerala FC at the TRC Ground in Srinagar on December 12.
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