When at Bengaluru FC, Cleiton Silva didn’t set foot on the Sree Kanteerava Stadium pitch for a competitive game for two full years because of COVID. On Friday he finally appeared, only to end up haunting his former club by scoring the lone goal in a much-needed victory for East Bengal, at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium here on Friday.
A mistake by BFC midfielder Suresh Wangjam decided the tie in the 69th minute to hand Simon Grayson is third straight loss and leave the side languishing in the ninth spot. The 22-year-old botched a back pass to goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and was duly outmuscled by Naorem Mahesh, who in turn squared the ball to Silva for an easy tap in.
East Bengal FC’s Cleiton Augusto Oliveira Silva (10), scoring a goal against Bengaluru FC, during the Hero Indian Super League 202223 football match, played at Sree Kanteerava Outdoor Stadium, in Bengaluru on November 11, 2022. | Photo Credit: K. Murali Kumar
The visitors could have well been chasing the game if Roy Krishna had buried a golden opportunity in the 61st minute. Creator Javi Hernandez fed a perfectly weighted through ball, but the striker, from close range, didn’t even trouble the goalie.
Krishna was then denied again in the 90th minute, this time by a splendid tackle from defender Ivan Gonzalez.
But for the final half hour, the match was an insipid affair. The home side’s performance was disjointed, with the midfield and the forward line rarely in sync. But for a couple of fine touches from Hernandez, it had nothing to show.
Suhair Vadakkepeedika (left) of East Bengal FC and Aleksander Jovanovic of Bengaluru FC vie for the ball during the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2022-23 football match between Bengaluru FC and East Bengal FC, at Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru, Friday, Nov. 11, 2022. | Photo Credit: PTI
For East Bengal, it was Silva who hummed all evening, but with no one to join in chorus. He almost nailed an one-on-one but was thwarted by a superb last-ditch sliding tackle from BFC defender Sandesh Jhingan.
But the 35-year-old eventually had the last laugh, giving Stephen Constantine only his second win from six games and lifting the Kolkata giant to eighth place.
The result: Bengaluru FC 0 lost to East Bengal 1 (Silva 69’)
