Rajasthan United FC continued its superb run in the 131st Durand Cup football tournament, holding city giant Emami East Bengal FC to a goalless draw in a Group B league match, at the Kishore Bharati Stadium on Thursday.
Rajasthan, which sprung a big surprise in its first outing by beating ATK Mohun Bagan 3-2, put on another spirited show to force a draw against East Bengal.
I-League representative Rajasthan joined former ISL champion Mumbai City FC on top of the group with four points, while East Bengal, which played a second consecutive goalless draw, remained third with two points. The winless ATK MB remains at the bottom with just a point.
Sustained attacks, but...
East Bengal, which had the full quota of four foreign players in its roster, made repeated assaults at the defensive opposition. But a goal remained elusive as the men in its attack — V.P. Suhair, Sumeet Passi, Amarjit Kiyam and Brazilian Alex Lima — continued to fumble with the opportunities coming their way.
The opening 30 minutes saw East Bengal earning three chances but the Rajasthan goalkeeper Niraj Kumar and the crosspiece put paid to the efforts.
Rajasthan had a good chance to find the lead in the 62nd minute, when it earned a penalty as East Bengal substitute Souvik Chakraborty brought Remsanga down inside the box. East Bengal custodian Kamaljit Singh judged Sergio Barboza’s attempt rightly to save the day for East Bengal.
Missing chances
In the day’s other match, Army Green wasted several chances in the second half and ended up sharing honours with Sudeva Delhi FC in a goalless Group D match at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati.
Army Green, which missed a sitter in stoppage time of the first half, controlled the proceedings in the second period but could not utilise the opportunities that came its way.
The draw took Army Green to four points from two matches, while Sudeva has two points from an equal number of matches.
The results:
At Kolkata: Group B: Emami East Bengal 0 drew with Rajasthan United FC 0.
At Guwahati: Group D: Army Green 0 drew with Sudeva Delhi 0.
