Two late goals, including one by Tamil Nadu’s local boy Nandhakumar Sekar, broke Chennaiyin FC’s hearts as East Bengal beat it 3-1 in its first away match, at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, in Chennai on Saturday.
Chennaiyin had planned to turn the heat up — quite literally — on East Bengal on a sultry summer afternoon in Chennai. But East Bengal coach Oscar Bruzon and the sun both had other ideas.
With the sunlight directly falling on the home fans’ stand, Chennaiyin’s twelfth man moved for cover. So did the players, who were subjected to early high pressure by the visiting side.
And within seven minutes, East Bengal was ahead.
Elsinho lost the ball, picking up an injury in the process, and the visiting side swarmed around him. Mohammed Rashid got the ball, passed to Saul Crespo, who threaded a through ball to Edmund Lalrindika in the final third.
While several of Chennaiyin’s players kept appealing for a foul on Elsinho, Edmund took off, entering the box and beating Mohammad Nawaz for his third goal of the season. Bruzon’s men had scored the first goal in four of their six matches in ISL so far. That became five in seven.
In the 20th minute, Farukh Choudhary whipped in a cross for Irfan Yadwad, whose header rattled the frame of the goal. Three minutes later, Yadwad tried another shot, this time from outside the box, prompting Prabhsukhan Gill to make another save.
AS IT HAPPENED | CHENNAIYIN VS EAST BENGAL HIGHLIGHTS
Chennaiyin was knocking on East Bengal’s door, and, with the afternoon giving way to dusk, the home fans were out in the open with chants and cheers. And by the half-hour mark, the host side had found a voice, both on and off the field.
Laldinliana Renthlei floated in a long diagonal ball for Yadwad, who had run behind East Bengal’s high defence, and the forward dinked the ball over Gill to make it all square.
‘Slender leads and high lines never sit well’ must have been one of the thoughts on Bruzon’s mind as he paced up and down in the technical area and raised his hand for the flanks to go forward.
PV Vishnu answered the call, overlapping with Edmund to get into the box.
However, a terrible miss in front of an open goal after dribbling past Nawaz only made the Spanish coach restless. Thirteen minutes later, Vishnu tried again, only to be denied by Nawaz.
His perseverance finally paid off in the last quarter of the match when East Bengal attacked on the counter. Vishnu’s cross from the left was guided into the net by Bipin Singh, seven minutes from time, sending the visiting fans into delirium.
It was East Bengal’s time now to ride the wave of support. And that support, with another quick counterattack, saw Miguel Damasceno set up Nandha to his left, who made no mistake with his first-time finish.
The win meant East Bengal leapfrogged its arch-rival Mohun Bagan Super Giant to sit third in the league standings on goal difference, while for Bruzon, it was another match against Chennaiyin, three goals scored, and finally, another win to cherish.
East Bengal will host Bengaluru FC in its next match on April 16, while Chennaiyin, which fell to third from bottom with the loss, will look to halt the in-form Sporting Club Delhi, which has won consecutive matches in the last two rounds.
Published on Apr 11, 2026
