NEW DELHI: Despite scoring for the first time in five matches, SC East Bengal succumbed to a 2-3 loss against Hyderabad FC at Tilak Maidan on Tuesday. Hyderabad kept their unbeaten streak intact and showed character to come back from a goal down in the first half.
The Nizams rise to fifth spot, with nine points from five games. They remain one of the three teams not to suffer a defeat so far. On the other hand, SC East Bengal's suffering continues and they remain rooted to the bottom of the table with only a solitary point from five games.
While Hyderabad started strongly and created a flurry of chances, it was the Kolkata team which opened the scoring. Anthony Pilkington played an excellent pass to Ville Matti Steinmann, who laid it off to Jacques Maghoma. The Congolese midfielder made no mistake as he slotted it home with a fine finish. It was SC East Bengal's first-ever goal in the ISL.
Hyderabad could have gone into half-time with the scores level as they got a penalty. But Debjit Majumder made a fine save to deny Aridane Santana. In the second half, it all fell apart for the ISL newcomers in the space of 40 seconds as Santana made amends for the missed penalty.
He first headed in a free-kick and then calmly slotted it in from a fabulous pass from substitute Liston Colaco. The young Indian winger tormented the East Bengal defenders and created the third for Halicharan Narzary displaying fine skills.
Robbie Fowler's team tried to make a match of it, scoring in the closing stages through Maghoma once more but in the end, it proved too little too late.
Fowler's team is showing the problems of a hastily put together side. They entered the league at the last moment. Their recruitment and fitness levels are not as good as the other teams. "I think the recruitment was for the I-League and suddenly the players find themselves in ISL. It is a big step up and I think the performance of some players is not up to the ISL standards. The players need to concentrate more for the full 90 minutes. We tried hard but were just not good enough," said Fowler.