Haokip hurls two past East Bengal as Salgaocar pull off a major upset with 3-1 victory at home

RELEGATION-THREATENED Salgaocar FC caused a major upset in the I-League zeitgeist today when they bested East Bengal 3-1 at home, with Thongkhosiem Haokip finding the mark twice for the Greens.

Salgaocar boss Santosh Kashyap called some of his more experienced soldiers back into the starting line-up; Calvin Mbarga made it and so did Thangjam Singh and Thongkhosiem Haokip. East Bengal head coach Biswajit Bhattacharya also made 3 changes to their starting eleven, recalling Narayan Das, Sanju Pradhan and U-22 quota player Samad Ali Mallick into it.

But it was one of the home team's changes that paid off almost immediately as the match began. Salgaocar striker Darryl Duffy ran up the right flank and sent in a cross for Thongkhosiem Haokip, who got past defender Arnab Mondal and shot it right in. Salgaocar were 1-0 ahead.

But the man who got the assist, and one of the front-runners for the golden boot this season, Darryl Duffy had to leave the pitch shortly afterwards after he strained his groin. He was replaced by Jackichand Singh as Salgaocar kept up their attempts to adapt to the transformed circumstances.

East Bengal immeidately imposed themselves. Young Samad Ali Mallick sen in a great cross that caught keeper Karanjit out of position, and Bikash Jairu had an almost open net ahead. But Eder got there just in time to make a goal-line save to protect Salgaocar's lead.

But the goal had to come eventually, and it came from Ranty Martins, another golden boot contender this season. A mistake from defender Keenan Almeida allowed Ranty to get the ball at a point blank rage virtually unguarded. He tucked it in, taking his season's tally to 9 - catching up with Duffy - and making the scoreline 1-1. 

But the youngster, Samad Ali Mallick, soon committed a blunder that cost his team dearly. He pulled Jackichand Singh down to the ground, right inside the East Bengal box. The referee immediately ordered a penalty and booked Samad. Calvin Mbarga stepped up to take the spot kick and dutifully converted it, sending Salgaocar 2-1 ahead. Samad was immediately substituted for Sehnaj Singh by the East Bengal coach, and defender Bello Rasaq was replaced by Harmanjot Singh Khabra; an aggressive substitution as East Bengal were now chasing the game for a second time.

The visitors made their third change early in the second half. Mehtab Hossain made way for Cavin Lobo; another attempt to boost the supply line from the midfield. For the first third of the half East Bengal dominated possession and attacks as Salgaocar got all their bodies behind the ball to desperately defend. 

The home side got a golden opportunity to increase their lead when Brian Mascarenhas ran up the left and fed goal-scorer Thongkhosiem Haokip who was standing a foot away from the goal line. But for some reason he couldn't control the ball and made the darnest miss of the season so far. The scoreline remained 2-1.

Then Brian got a chance to score, this time supplied by Haokip, and the former went hard at it but Luis Barreto, the East Bengal keeper, managed to make a timely dive and get a hand to the ball, edging it out for a corner. 

That save kept the Red and Golds in the game but soon things took a turn for the worse. Jackichand Singh, who had been attracting fouls all afternoon, this time got harshly felled by Sehnaj Singh inside the box. Sehnaj received a straight red and Salgaocar were awarded a second penalty in the game. Martin Scott took it and Luis Barreto made a great save to deny the midfielder, but East Bengal were now down to 10 men, with 10 minutes to spare. A comeback from here looked harder than ever.

They got once last chance though, in injury time. Cavin Lobo took a free kick from a decent range that he delivered straight to Ranty Martins whose header was on target but saved by Karanjit Singh. Then the free-kick taker Cavin killed the game for his team when he messed up trying to pass the ball and ended up gifting Haokip the possession. The latter ran with it, all the way into the East Bengal box and fired it into the net. Haokip completed his brace, and second before the game was over, Salgaocar took their lead up to 3-1.

This result moves mountains both at the top and bottom of the table. Salgaocar, perishing at the bottom, have suddenly found form, momentum and 3 precious points that are sending them right after Aizawl FC in the relegation race. Up top, meanwhile, East Bengal have suddenly settled at third place with 17 piints from 9 matches, 4 points behind league leaders Mohun Bagan. The coach will be furious with this performance; for the disheartening individual mistakes that repeatedly gifted Salgaocar with goals and directly caused the defeat. This is the first time East Bengal have lost a game since Bengaluru beat them in January, and the first win for Salgaocar after two striaght losses; one of them against East Bengal. 

For the visitors, this game was a warning sign. Their squad seems to have a tendency to come apart under pressure; and coach Biswajit Bhattacharya will have to try and fix that before the crunch period comes in April where East Bengal play Mohun Bagan, Mumbai FC and Bengaluru FC back to back in April. As for the home side, they will hope to carry this momentum into the next 3 matches against Mumbai FC, Shillong Lajong and DSK Shivajians; all of which are at home. After a demoralizing start to the season, they have the best possible run of games to turn things around and get out of the relegation zone.