ISL 2024-25: East Bengal Hammers Punjab FC 3-1 to keep hopes in living rooms alive

Oriental Bengal has maintained its new form by beating the Punjab FC 3-1 in its Indian Super League (ISL) match at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium here on Saturday.

Diamantakos Diamantakos (15th minute) set the tone to visitors with an early strike before Naorem Mahesh Singh (47th) and Lalchungnungu (54th) found the back of the net.

Later, Punjab FC marked the objective of consolation in the 62nd minute, graceful of a fantastic strike from Ezequiel Vidal.

Ezequiel Vidal du Punjab FC celebrates the scoring against Oriental Bengal in its Indian Super League mathematics at the Jawahar Lal Nehru stadium in New Delhi. | Photo credit: FSDL / ISL media

Oriental Bengal has now been undefeated in its last three outdoor games this season, keeping its hopes for the living room playoffs. It is 10th in the table, with 24 points of 21 games, while the Punjab FC fell 11th in the position, with three games to play.

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The red and gold brigade took the lead when his Greek striker hammered a shot on the goal of the left, more in the hope than conviction, but he crossed the legs of Ravi Kumar in order.

Diamantakos had another opportunity to double the head in the 44th minute when Raphael Messi Bouli found it with a low cross after beating his marker.

However, before the 31 -year -old could shoot his gunshot, Ivan Novoselec stole the ball on his way and avoided the danger.

At the start of the second half, the punjab head coach, Panagiotis Dilmperis, brought two attacker changes, presenting Luka Majcen and Nihal Sudeesh. But the hosts were surprised looking at the ball while Mahesh slipped the ball in front of Ravi to double the head two minutes after restarting.

It all started from a long throw for the oriental Bengal where Messi Bouli raised the shoulders of his marker and released a Vishnu cross in space. Novoselec blocked his shot, but he landed with goodness for Mahesh, who calmly nestled him at the back of the net.

The Red and Gold Brigade found the third goal in the corner of Mahesh that Ravi initially struck, but the defenders of Punjab FC could not erase their lines. Lalchungnunga then showed a great conscience, finding the lower corner with a thunderous strike.

Lalchungnungu of East Bengal FC celebrates the third goal against Punjab FC in his Indian Super League match at the Jawahar Lal Nehru stadium in New Delhi. | Photo credit: FSDL / ISL media

In the 61st minute, the Punjab FC almost marked when Khaiminthang Lhungdim found Majcen with a long pass and the Slovenian directed him towards the goal.

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But Prabhsukhan Gill was attentive to the danger and showed great reflexes to prevent the extinguishing of the header.

A minute later, the hosts finally marked when a disjointed crossroads rebounded nearly the last third of Bengal Bengal. It was Vidal, who reacted first and made the ball fly in the upper corner, leaving Gill and the defenders in admiration.

(with PTI entries)