East Bengal FC lost the lead twice before coming out of the hole with a 3-2 win over Hyderabad FC in their Kalinga Super Cup opener in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday.
Cleiton Silva put East Bengal in front twice in the 33 and 53 minutes. But Rahmlunchunnunga’s finish off a Lalchhanhima Sailo cutback on the cusp of halftime and Nim Dorjee ’s conversion of a penalty in the 78th minute kept hopes alive for Hyderabad FC — playing in the Super Cup with an all-Indian squad.
In the end, it was left for second-half substitute Saul Crespo to clinch the issue for East Bengal, heading home the winner in the 80th minute and dashing hopes for Thangboi Singto’s young brave hearts.
East Bengal will take on Sreenidi FC next on January 14 before facing Mohun Bagan SG in the final group A fixture on January 19.
With just the group winner advancing to the semifinals, Cuadrat wanted his team to go for the kill early on and they could have gone 2-0 up inside the first 10 minutes but Nandhakumar Sekar hit the crossbar and Cleiton missed another chance with an open goal in front of him.
The Brazilian, however, broke the deadlock with an excellent finish, meeting Md Rakip’s looping cross with a flying tap-in.
Hyderabad’s recent struggle in front of goal has seen them lie at the bottom of the ISL table without a win in 11 matches. Singtoi has come to Bhubaneswar with an all-Indian side, half of which are under-20 players, aiming to test his reserve team before resuming the ISL journey.
And they struck back in the dying minutes of the first half with a beautiful move, Sailo latching on to Md Rafi’s through ball and providing the cutback for Rahmlunchunnunga.
The imperious Cleiton made it 2-1 soon after the break, beating goalkeeper Laxmikant Kattimani with a brilliantly-executed free-kick, earned by Shouvik Chakraborty just outside the box.
East Bengal came calling again and Borja Herrera saw his attempt denied by the woodwork. But Hyderabad threatened to queer the pitch for East Bengal again when Rahmlunchunnunga earned a penalty and Nim converted it.
But Crespo — who replaced Gursimrat Singh Gill in the second half — soon rose to the occasion, meeting Borja’s corner with a precise header and helping his team avoid suffering an early hiccup in the tournament.