East Bengal Club and Shillong Lajong FC played out a 0-0 draw in a Round 21 Airtel I-League encounter at the Saltlake Stadium on Friday evening.

Both sides wasted plenty of chances and thus had to settle for a point, a result which keeps Lajong above East Bengal, who now trail league leaders Bengaluru by 13 with three games in hand.

Lajong made a bright start and hit the woodwork in the third minute as Uilliams Bomfin’s long-range freekick was saved on to the post by East Bengal custodian Abhijit Mondal.

The red-and-gold brigade struggled to get going in the early stages as they were very wasteful in possession. Lajong created plenty of openings but their finishing wasn’t clinical with Japanese Taisuke Matsugane also heading wide despite being unmarked inside the box.

The away side’s next chance came after a Boithang Haokip freekick as Abhijit failed to collect the ball properly but no Lajong player could capitalise from the rebound.

East Bengal were relying entirely on aerial balls and the long throws of Raju Gaikwad. Their first real attempt came from a Raju throw as Edeh Chidi latched on to a loose ball but narrowly missed the target.

With the hosts struggling to retain possession, Armando Colaco replaced young Subodh Kumar with Cavin Lobo in midfield but Lajong continued to be the better side and didn’t score because of their poor finishing and some fine goalkeeping from Abhijit.

Uilliams wasted a good opportunity after being played through by Boithang while later on Abhijit did well to deny Boithang from long range. Minutes before the interval, the 36-year-old custodian saved Redeem Talang’s header from six yards after a brilliant cross from Uilliams.

East Bengal made a much better start to the second period and should have taken the lead just five minutes after the restart when Lobo got a clear sight of goal after exchanging passes with Chidi but the midfielder missed the target.

The hosts enjoyed a great spell of pressure but couldn’t involve their two foreign strikers Chidi and James Moga enough. As the half progressed, East Bengal saw a lot of the ball but only had half chances with Lalrindika Ralte and Ryuji Sueoka shooting wide.

Lajong lacked the threat going forward in the second half but were well organised at the back. However a great through pass from Lalrindika sent substitute Semilen Doungel clean through on goal but the youngster couldn’t keep his composure and failed to hit the target.

That was East Bengal’s best chance of the game but it wasn’t until the 83rd minute that they tested Lajong keeper Lalthuammawia Ralte, who showed great reflexes to parry away Lalrindika’s half-volley for a corner.

East Bengal ran out of ideas in the end while Lajong were happy to hold on for their second straight away draw.

(Report & Picture courtesy AIFF Media)