East Bengal held on their lead at the top of the I-League table but were held to a 1-1 draw by Shillong Lajong courtesy of poor finishing at the Kanchanjangha Stadium in Siliguri on Wednesday.

East Bengal were lacklustre in the first half and went behind through Samuel Lalmuanpuia’s goal. Close to the interval, the Kolkata giants equalised through their talisman Willis Plaza.

East Bengal, though, made a bright start to the game with Wedson Anselme pinning the Lajong defence back with a powerful run. Against the run of play the visitors went into the lead with Samuel Lalmuanpuia making a clever late run and heading the ball home from a Bipin Singh cross from the left.

The goal was the impetus Lajong needed to find a foothold in the contest, and they looked comfortable in possession from there. East Bengal looked bereft of ideas when on the ball. Towards the end of the first half, the Lajong defence was caught napping and allowed Plaza to score his sixth goal of the season.

East Bengal dictated proceedings in the second half, but it was TP Rehenesh who was the busier of the two goalkeepers as Lajong opted for crosses in the direction in the direction of Aser Dipanda Dicka.

Neither teams created any chances of note in the final quarter of the game. Romeo Fernandes showed plenty of energy on the flanks but failed to produce a single noteworthy cross or a shot. East Bengal lead arch-rivals Mohun Bagan by four points but have played two extra games. Lajong lie at fifth in the table.

Mohun Bagan held by plucky Mumbai

Mohun Bagan and Mumbai FC created plenty of chances to score at the Cooperarge Ground, but the match finished at 0-0. The home side moved from the bottom of the table while the Kolkata-based giants moved within three points of arch-rivals East Bengal. This was Mumbai’s first point after six losses.

After seeing off a dominant Mohun Bagan spell early in the game, Mumbai crawled back into the game, and Thoi Singh found the net, only for the goal to be disallowed by the linesman. Winger Sony Norde had yet another excellent outing, but Bagan’s problems from the Kolkata derby of failing to find an end product to their threat inside the opposition half continued. Mumbai would have been the more relieved side, having ended a six-match losing run.

Brief score

  • East Bengal 1 (Willis Plaza) draw with Shillong Lajong 1 (Samuel Lalmuanpuia)