East Bengal are closing in on an unwanted record if they don’t score a goal in their next game…
When former Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler was announced as the head coach of East Bengal, the expectations of football fans in the country rocketed.
It was a piece of welcome news for the supporters of East Bengal following the late announcement that the club would be taking part in the 2020-21 Indian Super League (ISL). However, after four matches this season, things haven’t gone according to plan for Fowler and co.
East Bengal’s pre-season training was delayed by a few weeks due to the time taken to complete paperwork at the club as they headed into their first ISL season. But after four rounds of the 2020-21 season, the biggest concern for the former Brisbane Roar coach will be the issues in front of goal.
Fowler has two out-and-out Indian strikers he can use in the squad but neither of them has been able to make a mark so far. He stuck with Balwant Singh for the first three matches before giving Jeje Lalpekhlua a start for the fourth. Jeje started his first match in over one-and-a-half and he looked out of touch against the strong defence of Jamshedpur. Aaron-Amadi Holloway is part of the squad but hasn’t been in the matchday squad so far with Fowler claiming that he is yet to get in shape.
It is problematic that East Bengal are winless after four games. And they have not scored a single goal in those games, making their start look worse.
By going four games without scoring a goal, Fowler’s team has matched the record of Mumbai City FC from the inaugural edition of ISL in 2014. The Islanders had gone the same number of games without scoring from November 9-28th.
There are only two teams who have done worse in this regard. Earlier this year, NorthEast United fired blanks in five matches, from January 8 to February 10, 2020. During what was a wretched 2018-19 season in which they finished at the bottom of the table, Chennaiyin registered multiple draws and defeats without scoring goals. They ended the season with three back-to-back goalless games and continued the run at the start of the following season to extend it seven matches without a goal.
East Bengal have now matched the second-worst goalless run by a team in a single season and Robbie Fowler will be hoping that his team can get off the mark in their next match to avoid registering the joint-worst goalless run in ISL over the course of a single season.
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