New Delhi, April 10: Punjab FC put in a dominant display as they swept aside East Bengal 4-1 in their final match of the Indian Super League 2023-24 season. The terrific trio of Wilmar Jordan, Luka Majcen and Madih Talal scored the goals for The Shers with Jordan scoring a brace.
With the win, the ISL debutants finished the season with 24 points from 22 matches. They currently occupy the eighth position in the table but could finish on seventh as they have a better head to head record against East Bengal who are currently in seventh. East Bengal also finished their season with 24 points.
Punjab FC Head Coach Staikos Vergetis made just one change in the his final starting lineup of the season with 18 year old Manglenthlang Kipgen coming in place of Amarjit Singh Kiyam in the centre of the midfield. East Bengal Head Coach Carles Cuadrat named a strong lineup for the all-important match with Cleiton Silva and Mahesh Singh leading the attack line.
It was a cagey affair from both teams in the first quarter of the half as they were trying to take control of the game. East Bengal had the better touches inside the opposition box but there weren’t much in the way of testing the Punjab keeper Ravi Kumar. The home side had the first chance to open the scoring from an intricate team move. Kipgen released Wilmar Jordan who setup Madih Talal free inside the six yard box but the Frenchman’s effort was saved from point blank range by Kamaljit Singh.
The Shers did score from the very next attack through Wilmar Jordan. Right back Abhishek Singh played a perfect ball to the Colombian whose left footed effort found the bottom corner. Sayan Mukherjee missed a good opportunity to equalize soon but the attacker could not get a telling touch off a Victor Vazquez ball but the youngster made amends with a wonderful solo goal. He dispossessed Mohammed Salah in the half line and dribbled past the Punjab defence and hit a left footed curler past Ravi Kumar to equalize for The Torchbearers.
Punjab piled the pressure on the East Bengal defence and took the lead just before halftime. Madih Talal cut inside from the left wing and finished past Kamaljit Singh who got a hand to the shot but could not keep it out to stop Punjab from taking the lead. The home side could have increased their lead before the half time whistle but Jordan missed from close range and Talal came close through another curler from the left wing.
Punjab FC were running riot in the second half with East Bengal playing a very high line of defence in search of the equalizer. The Punjab attack line utilized the space behind by playing through balls from the deep and looked dangerous in every move. Madih Talal was driving ahead in every opportunity he got and setup the third goal in one such move teeing up Wilmar Jordan for his second goal of the match and eighth of the season.
The Frenchman then setup Luka Majcen minutes later for the fourth goal of the match as the captain scored his eighth of the season with a wonderful finish. It was Madih Talal’s 10 th assist of the season which equaled the record for the most assists in a single ISL season.
Punjab FC saw off the game without much trouble not before Madih Talal forced a saved out of Kamaljit Singh and Luka Majcen’s effort was brilliantly cleared off the line by Harmanjot Khabra. Madih Talal was adjudged the Player of the Match for his brilliant performance.
