ISL 2020-21: East Bengal’s horror start continues with 3rd consecutive defeat

The newly introduced club are facing some serious difficulty in keeping up with the levels of the Hero ISL in their debut campaign. SC East Bengal succumbed to their third defeat in three matches played so far in the ISL with a 2-0 loss to NorthEast United.

East Bengal have conceded 7 goals in three games so far this season. That is the worst record in the division as they find themselves at the bottom of the table tonight. More concerning is the fact that they have not managed to score a single goal yet.

They have managed to put one in the back of their own net on the flipside. That is how the scoring opened against NorthEast with East Bengal conceding a shocking own goal to give their opponents the lead.

Jacques Maghoma was clipped inside the box in the early knockings of the match, and how the referee decided to not award a penalty to East Bengal is beyond us. NorthEast doubled their lead in the 90th minute from a swift counter-attack from the two substitutes.

Suhair Vadakkepeedika delivered a perfect cross towards the far post to Rochharzela, who made a 50-yard dash before finishing off the cross, unmarked.

What Has Gone Wrong for East Bengal?

If you look at the numbers themselves, East Bengal had most of the possession in tonight’s match. However, nothing productive came from the lion’s share of having the ball. Robbie Fowler’s team manage to keep the ball well along the half-line but tend to give it away very cheaply shortly after.

Their centre backs playing dangerously high also leaves the counter-attack ripe for the taking. Going forward, there seems to be a lack of direction overall. They mainly resort to crossing from wide areas, but often lack the decision making prowess to get the ball into the back of the net.

All of that can be mainly reasoned out as the lack of familiarity among the players and the inexperience for the team as a whole. It is worth keeping in mind that Robbie Fowler only had a month to assemble the squad from scratch. But, on that note, it is also worth noting that the 3-4-3 is not working out.

The head coach must find a way to experiment and get the best out of the players whilst also managing to increase the cohesion among the East Bengal players if they are to turn their fate around this season.