EAST BENGAL ARE now pretty much out of the Calcutta Football League title race, due to a loss to Mohammedan Sporting.
The club after a shock loss to Peerless started brightly against Mohammedan Sporting with star defender Johny Acosta scoring a goal from a set-piece 12 minutes into the game. The Red and Golds held on for most of the game until the 87th minute when Adjah delivered a decisive setback to them, scoring and bringing the Black Panthers back on level terms, in a game that East Bengal desperately needed to win in order to stay alive in the title race.
What followed was a bizarre display from referee Dipu Roy. He added 6 minutes to the second half but for some unknown reason refused to stop the game even when those 6 minutes were long past. The game went on, and while East Bengal were pressing hard to find a winner, Mohammedan Sporting exploited the chance of a counter where Adjah scored a second goal. 100 minutes in, Mohammedan Sporting were leading 2-1 and the match was somehow still going on.
After about two more minutes of football, referee Mr Roy blew the final whistle.
You can watch ythe full video this exciting 'Mini Derby' taking place at Kolkata's iconic Salt Lake Stadium right here, courtesy Sadhna News and Xtra Time...
This game practically marks the end of East Bengal's record breaking run of winning 8 back to back CFL titles. They are now on 20 points from 10 matches, and with 1 match left, they will not be able to match arch rivals Mohun Bagan (23 points from 9 matches) if they get even one draw. The only teams that can catch up with Mohun Bagan at this point are Peerless (19 points from 9 matches) and Mohammedan Sporting (16 points from 8 games). But if Mohun Bagan manage to beat Calcutta Custos on Wednesday's match, they will immediately be crowned as the new CFL champions.