East Bengal cap record-breaking CFL title run with all-win record

KOLKATA: East Bengal on Sunday capped their ground-breaking CFL Premier Division campaign with an all-win record, edging past Aryan Club 1-0 in their final-round match at the Barasat stadium.
Adelaja Somide scored the all-important goal in the 21st minute of a match, in which East Bengal, however, looked hardly impressive and could have even dropped points, if not tasted defeat, for the first time this term.
East Bengal finished their campaign with 27 points from nine matches. Their tally excludes the CFL derby on September 7, in which Mohun Bagan didn’t turn up to play and the fate of their no-show is now lying in the hands of the IFA league sub-committee.
Having managed just 5 points from seven matches, Aryan Club, on the other hand, have been left with a fight for survival, along with Bhawanipore Club (2 points) and bottom-placed George Telegraph (1 point).
Two teams will be relegated.
Having clinched the CFL championship for the record seventh successive time three days ago, East Bengal entered the field on Sunday, looking to emulate the red-and-golds brigade of the 1970s when they had won the championship without losing a point on two occasions --- in 1975 and 1977.
However, in Aryan Mehtab Hossain and Co faced a bogey team which has reputation of queering the pitch for so-called 'big' teams in the local league.
In fact, it's Aryan who inflicted the biggest defeat on East Bengal during the red-and-golds' trophy-winning run in the CFL from 2010 to 2016 when they beat Trevor Morgan's side 4-1 in the 2011-2012 season.
There was another spectre of apprehension hanging over the winners’ camp. In 2010-2011, when East Bengal's record-breaking journey had begun, they looked destined for winning the first of their seven consecutive trophies with an unbeaten run. But Aryan spoiled their party, beating them 2-1 in their last match.
There was a sense of déjà vu at Barasat too.
With both Morgan and his assistant coach Richard Dryden back home, goalkeeping coach Abhijit Mondal fielded a side with a mix of experience and youth.
And when Adelaja rose to the occasion, meeting Bikash Jairu's cross with a perfectly-timed header in the 21st minute, everything seemed working well for the champions-elect.
But East Bengal dropped their guard soon after the goal and a sense of complacency crept in their game plan.
Young defender Koushik Sarkar, who paired up with captain and veteran Arnab Mondal in the heart of defence, appeared to be bogged down by the sense of the occasion, making mistakes one after another.
Aryan suddenly sniffed their chances of salvaging a point. Sunil Mallick failed to keep his header on target from close following Subhajit Majumdar's corner in the 55th minute. Soon afterwards, Moses missed another sitter as East Bengal backline started living on its edge.
The experienced ones like Lalrindika Ralte and Robert Lalthlamuana were also found guilty of losing possession too often and it was left to veterans Mehtab and Arnab to come up with some crucial nick-of-the-time interventions to deny Aryan.
"Yes, there was some complacency in our play," stand-in coach Abhijit later admitted. "But the important thing is that we finished the job the way we wanted it to --- winning all our matches. As far as the CFL is concerned, East Bengal have made winning a habit," he maintained.
Nobody would argue with him on this front.