Was that the trigger?
At half-time, the East Bengal players got the news that that league leader Chennai City was down by an early goal against Minerva Punjab in Coimbatore.
That probably worked wonders, for a second-half surge saw East Bengal bounce back and defeat a fighting Gokulam Kerala FC 2-1 in the I-League at the EMS Corporation Stadium here on Saturday evening.
But with Chennai finishing with a big win in Coimbatore, it went in vain. East Bengal, which has never won the I-League, had to be content with the runner-up spot with 42 points, a point behind Chennai.
All the goals came in the last 20 minutes or so. Trinidad and Tobago striker Marcus Joseph gave Gokulam the lead in the 69th minute while East Bengal scored twice in the space of six minutes beginning with the 79th, through a Jaime Santos penalty and through midfielder Laldanmawia Ralte.
“I’m sad but not disappointed, my boys played well. We have made progress and have overcome many difficult situations,” said Alejandro Menendez, the East Bengal coach.
“I think when you lose a title, it’s not because you lost one game. We had one team that had one point more than us. But before the match, I thought we could win the title.”
Needing a win badly, the Red-and-Gold brigade was under pressure in the opening half and the home side took advantage of it and played freely. Gokulam striker Marcus Joseph came close to scoring thrice in the first half.
Joseph was finally successful in the 69th minute, coming in from the left and finding the target neatly.
Ten minutes later, Jaime Santosh Colado scored off a penalty after Kassim Aidara was brought down and a little later, Laldanmawia Ralte produced the match-winner in a dramatic piece of action.
His header rebounded off goalkeeper Arnab Das but Ralte was successful the second time, sending the ball home.
The result: Gokulam Kerala 1 (Marcus Joseph, 69) lost to East Bengal 2 (Jaime Santos Colado 79P, Laldanmawia Ralte 85) .
