Matchday round-up: Highlanders, Blasters and Bengaluru take home the tie without losing!
Matchweek 4 of the eISL witnessed some terrific clashes that saw NorthEast United FC, Kerala Blasters FC and Bengaluru FC come out on top against their opponents.
First up, Emaad’s deadlock breaking goal didn’t last long as Jenasid came back to haunt him with a thumping equalizer. Jenasid came strong once again at the brink of half-time with a superb goal and took the lead. Emaad, as he’s shown all season, brought back an equalizer when the Highlanders needed the most and drew the first game of the night. The co-op game is where things got heated up as NorthEast United struck gold in the 15th minute, scoring the penalty after a dreadful mistake from the opposition. With the game still 1-0 after the half-time restart, the Highlanders took one more step towards taking the tie with their second goal of the night. Hyderabad tried to get back into the game, pulling one back just around the 80th minute but the Highlanders were too good, putting the game to rest with a third goal in injury time. The third game saw Saransh and Warsi go head-to-head. It was a start that Hyderabad FC wouldn’t have liked, conceding a goal due to a defensive error just around the 7th minute. The Highlanders then put the game to bed in the 39th minute with a strike that would arguably go down as one of the goals of the campaign to seal all three points for NorthEast United FC.
The second game saw Jamshedpur FC and Kerala Blasters FC battle it out. A dominating performance from the Blasters in the first game saw them bang in 4 goals, conceding just one to put them one up in the tie, all thanks to the veteran, Lokmanyu who seems to have found his lost form with this scintillating display. The second game between the two sides ended up as an even contest, with both teams scoring just a goal to end it 1-1. The final game once again saw the Blasters’ strength on display, with Shubhum repeating the feat that Lokmanyu did in the first game, thumping in with 4 goals to hand the Kerala Blasters all three points from the tie.
Game three witnessed a one-sided contest as the Bengaluru boys breezed through Odisha’s defense, beating them in all three games. The first game saw CJ’s full might on display as he notched up three goals to give Bengaluru the advantage in the tie. The second game was once again a one-sided contest as Bengaluru FC’s firepower had them banging in 4 goals to make it 2-0 in the tie and giving them the full three points. The ultimate game was once again dominated by Bengaluru FC, with Sagnik going a step further than CJ and putting four past the Odisha defense. The standout goal of the tie had to be the third goal from the third game, where Sagnik beat 5 players and set up R9 with a simple finish.
The action hasn’t ended yet for the week. Today’s matchday will see the all-famous Kolkata Derby between ATK Mohun Bagan and East Bengal FC, with the other clash will be contested between FC Goa and Chennaiyin FC. Catch all the action on eISL and ISL YouTube channels from 7PM onwards.
