Diamantakos returns after an injury and wins it for East Bengal in ISL 2024-25

Diamantakos returned after an injury and won it for East Bengal ISL 2024-25

 

[Kolkata, 21/12/2024]: After East Bengal made a brilliant comeback last Tuesday against Punjab FC, the supporters came in number to support their beloved team in their last home game of 2024. Their opponent Jamshedpur FC won their previous two games against Punjab and Mohammedan and were sitting at the 7th position in the table.

The last time these two sides faced back in early October, Jamshedpur won that game at the JRD Tata Complex by 2:0. East Bengal was in a very bad situation at that time. Their beloved manager Carles Cuadrat, who then became the villain for the Red and Golds, had just resigned. East Bengal now was in a much better place. Oscar Bruzon changed the team’s mentality and succeeded at the AFC Challenge League, and was also playing well in the ISL. Though East Bengal was missing the likes of Talal and Crespo, the supporters were relieved as Diamantakos returned to the playing 11.

East Bengal started off the game with planned attacks but was unable to convert them into goals. They were playing comfortably until Oscar was forced to sub off Rakip for Jeakson at the 16th minute, as Rakip seemingly was injured. Jamshedpur got some big chances, but they were either saved by Gill or blocked by the East Bengal defence. Anwar had almost broke the deadlock when his powerful strike hit the post. Khalid Jamil brought in Pronoy for Sourav and Pronoy Halder went into the book within less than a minute of coming on.

Siverio Toro received the ball in a dangerous place and should have scored for Jamshedpur. But the former East Bengal player somehow shot it just outside the net. Apart from few more attacks by the visitors, East Bengal was comfortably controlling the game. Their only issues were holding the ball for too long, giving away possession and failing to convert the chances. East Bengal were playing very well compared to their performance in the first half of the last game against Punjab FC. The home team had more chances, a big one coming at the 37th minute when Anwar played a long ball from defensive third towards Cleiton Silva. The Brazilian passed to Nandhakumar inside the box but Nandha hit it directly at Albino Gomes. The first half saw no more actions and it was goalless at the Half Time break. 

 

Khalid Jamil used up another substitution at beginning of the second half. He subbed off Pronoy for Mobashir Rahman, another former Red and Gold. Punjab made an attack on 48th minute. Imran’s trivela was blocked by East Bengal defense and his return shot from inside the box was well off target as the ball went out for a throw in. Vishnu was brought down inside the box by Shubham. Though there was an appeal for a penalty, the referee was not interested. Jamshedpur made back to back attacks but East Bengal defence was rock solid to defend those. 

 

At the 54th minute, Cleiton Silva got the ball and played a pass to Nandha. Nandha took his time, dribbled some of the Jamshedpur players and made a late pass to Diamantakos. His shot was blocked for a corner. Cleiton’s corner was headed by Hijazi but Albino saved it. Within moments, East Bengal made a dangerous counter attack. Nandhakumar instead of passing the ball to Vishnu in open, ran with it and passed to the Greek forward. Diamantakos’s shot the ball outside the goal. East Bengal were continuously attacking and a goal seemed like a matter of time. At the last moments of the 4th quarter, Silva made a simple but very effective pass to Nandha on the right side and he passed inside the box. Vishnu tried to score with his heel but the ball went from between his legs. This was a boon for East Bengal as it fooled the two defenders present and last season’s top scorer, Diamantakos slotted it inside to give East Bengal the lead. Diamantakos was subbed of for David within 4 minutes of breaking the deadlock. 

 

At the 68th minute, Vishnu dribbled past the defenders and cut inside the box and took a shot. But unluckily, his shot hit the crosspiece. After the drinks break, Jamshedpur was slowly regaining the momentum and was returning to the game. They started to attack continuously and East Bengal was under pressure. But they were handling the pressure very well. They were playing in a very planned manner, turning the defense into attack. But the additional time was almost a nightmare for the Red and Golds. Jamshedpur made multiple dangerous attacks, luckily they were slightly off target. The other attacks were cleared by the defence and finally, Harish Kundu blew the full time whistle.

 

East Bengal won two games in a row. The last home game of 2024 gave immense joy to the supporters. The team and Oscar must be given credit for this performance, when their two key players are missing due to injury. East Bengal’s last game of the month of December, as well as of the year will be on 28th December, against a struggling Hyderabad FC. We will see if East Bengal can have a hat-trick of wins for the first time in ISL 2024-25.