Bengaluru and NorthEast dominate opposition, while Odisha secure first win of the Season
The playoff picture begins to take form as eISL Season 2 moves past the halfway point. Matchday 11 saw two strong title contenders, Bengaluru FC and NorthEast United FC, making their respectives cases for a playoff spot.
The day’s proceedings started with Odisha FC taking on East Bengal FC in an important fixture for both teams. The opening game of the fixture saw Nate take on Ben_07 and go on to pull off a massive upset in an absolute thriller of a game. The game started with a heated rally from both sides as the scores were tied 3-3 at the end of the first half. However, it was Nate that found the crucial go-ahead goal to secure the win and continue his personal winning streak. East Bengal did well to get back in the tie by getting the win in the co-op game. However, Vagya7 brought up his personal and Odisha’s first victory of the season in style as he took the game against Akshat 3-2.
Following this, Kerala Blasters FC took on the Highlanders in the second fixture of the day. Things started off seemingly on level peggings when Emaad took on Shubham in the first game. Emaad opened proceedings with a ‘Goal of the Year’ contender, converting a rainbow, half volley goal. Shubma managed to equalise and both players traded another goal to keep the game tied until the 70th minute. But Emaad managed to find two goals in quick succession late in the second half to give NorthEast the first win for the day. The Northeast United FC pair of Emaad and Saaransh then put on a clinical performance to secure all three points at the back of a 1-0 win in the co-op game. The Highlanders went on to complete the clean sheet as Saaransh brought up a convincing 2-1 victory in his 1v1 game against Lokmanyu.
The final fixture of the day featured the Southern Rivals, Bengaluru FC taking on Chennaiyin FC on the virtual pitch. Bengaluru opened the fixture with a dominant performance as CJ12 took down in-form TikkaTown without much difficulty. CJ12 found the back of the net four times including a couple of classy goals to make his case for the MVP. The Blues made quick work of their opponents in co-op game and took home three points with a 2-1 victory. The final game saw Sagnik dominating Navin by scoring three and allowing none. Sagnik showed Championship intent as he created plenty of chances and did well to stop anything from even building for Navin. With the clean sweep of Chennaiyin FC, Bengaluru moved up to second in the eISL standings.
The gaming action continues in Matchweek 5 continues on Tueday, 4th April with three fixtures - East Bengal FC vs Mumbai City FC, Jamshedpur FC vs Odisha FC and NorthEast United vs ATK Mohun Bagan. The games will be streaming live on eISL and ISL YouTube channels from 7PM onwards.
