By Abhishek Roy, IANS
Ludhiana : Replacing midfielder Debabrata Roy with forward Dipendu Biswas helped East Bengal beat defending champions and archrivals Mohun Bagan 3-2 in the semi-finals of the 29th Federation Cup football tournament here Tuesday, coach Subrata Bhattacharya said.
“It was a competitive match and Mohun Bagan played well. We made a plan by replacing Debabrata with Dipendu and it worked accordingly,” said Bhattacharya at a post-match press conference.
Goals from defender Surkumar Singh, substitute Dipendu Biswas and Ashim Biswas helped East Bengal stay alive in the title hunt. For the defending champions, captain Bhaichung Bhutia’s strike gave them the lead and Brazilian forward Jose Ramires Barreto helped to reduce the target, but their efforts were not enough to save the day for Mohun Bagan.
Having spent his 17 years as a player and a few summers as coach with Mohun Bagan, Subrata was no stranger to their style of play. And the substitution as early as in the 16th minute of the game proved to a masterstroke for Bhattacharya as Dipendu himself scored one and set-up Surkumar Singh and Ashim Biswas to also score.
“My players ran every inch of the field and asked me not to worry as they would do what was needed. The spirit has grown within the team,” said Bhattacharya.
The coach also had words of praise for goalkeeper Subrata Paul, midfielders Jayanta Sen and Syed Rahim Nabi.
“Nabi is a very laborious player, one of the best in the team,” he added.
Paul saved three clear chances while Nabi and Sen were responsible in making the moves in the midfield.
Mohun Bagan’s Brazilian coach Carlos Roberto Pereira Da Silva admitted that sitting back after taking an early lead was a mistake that eventually cost his team.
“We took the lead and sat on it which was a mistake,” the Brazilian said.
“I wish we had played the first half as we played in the second,” Pereira maintained.