East Bengal overpowered Indian Arrows 2-0 in their I-League encounter at Ambedkar stadium on Tuesday.
The dominating victory consolidated East Bengal's place at the top of the table while Arrows linger at the bottom with seventh position. The seasoned side proved to be too good for Arrows, and with superior strength and experience they simply overwhelmed the youngsters.
Arrows showed flashes of brilliance but could not sustain it. Worst, the visitors scored two quick goals within the first quarter, courtesy Mahmoud Al Amna (13th minute) and Katsumi Yusa (16th), to peg the Arrows back.
Arrows coach Luis Norton de Matos made eight changes to the side which had impressively held Mohun Bagan to a 1-1 draw. Only Sanjeev Stalin, Anwar Ali and Jitendra found a place in the starting XI. With Dheeraj Singh leaving the side, goalkeeper Prabhsukan Gill made his debut. In contrast, East Bengal made only two changes with Cavin Lobo replacing Lalramchullova and Joby Justin stepping in for injured Willis Plaza.
The visitors went on the offensive from the start and in no time opened their account. Abhishek Halder got down Katsumi Yusa at the edge of the box. Amna then scored off the free-kick that went straight to the goal whistling past Gill.
Arrows barely had swallowed the early jolt when East Bengal doubled up their lead within three minutes. Amna again played a role when he sent a low cross to Yusa and the Japanese curled one into the top right corner. Arrows, left dazed by the onslaught, struggled to get their act together in the first half and entered the break trailing 0-2.
