East Bengal's 8–0 Victory Over CISF Protectors: A Dominant Durand Cup Performance
The Kishore Bharati Krirangan has seen its share of big nights, but this was a demolition. Indian Super League champion East Bengal, stung by a derby defeat to Mohun Bagan Super Giant, tore into CISF Protectors with an 8–0 hammering in Durand Cup 2026 Group A on Friday in Kolkata.
This was not a win. It was a release.
Vishnu’s night, East Bengal’s response
From the first whistle, East Bengal played like a side insulted by its own recent form. The ball barely left CISF’s half in the opening exchanges as the red-and-gold shirts swarmed, pressed, and probed.
Inside four minutes, the warning signs flashed. Edmund swung in a cross, PV Vishnu flung himself into an acrobatic effort and the ball crashed off the post. It set the tone: East Bengal would attack in waves, CISF would cling on and hope.
Raj Mathur, CISF’s goalkeeper, briefly turned the evening into a personal duel with the champions. He saved from Jesin in the second minute, then denied Vishnu from distance in the 18th, and pulled off a sharp double stop around the half-hour mark – first coming out to claim a cross, then blocking a shot from Rashid. A free-kick from Dani Ramirez in the 29th minute brought yet another save.
CISF’s plan was obvious: sit deep, form a low block, survive. For 37 minutes, it worked.
Then the dam burst.
Edmund cut the ball back inside the box, and Vishnu – already buzzing around the frontline – produced a deft back-heel finish in the 38th minute to finally break the deadlock. The pressure had been relentless; the goal felt inevitable.
Once ahead, East Bengal stopped snatching at chances and started enjoying themselves. On the stroke of half-time, in stoppage time at 45+3 minutes, Dani Ramirez drew defenders Khalid and Raj towards him, slipped a simple pass to the unmarked Jeakson Singh, and the India midfielder tapped in for 3–0 after an earlier own goal had doubled the lead. The contest, in truth, was over by the break.
Second half: from control to carnage
If CISF hoped the interval would cool East Bengal down, the champions had other ideas.
Barely two minutes into the second half, Sandip Mandi whipped in a cross from the left. Vishnu met it with an overhead kick, steering the ball into the net for his second of the night. At 4–0, the hosts were cruising. At 4–0, they refused to stop.
The game stretched. CISF’s legs grew heavy, their clearances more desperate. East Bengal, emboldened, started shooting from range. Hardik went close from distance in the 53rd minute, his effort flashing just wide as the home fans groaned in unison.
Juan Ferrando’s side – still hurting from that 1–0 loss to Mohun Bagan SG – treated the evening as a training ground for ruthless finishing. Habas dipped into his bench on 59 minutes, sending on Bipin Singh and Rohit Kumar for Dani and Rashid, and the intensity barely dropped.
The pressure told again in the 64th minute. After Jesin tried his luck from distance, another rapid East Bengal counter sliced through a weary CISF backline. A cross from the right found Bipin, who calmly tucked the ball away to make it 5–0.
By now, CISF Protectors were hanging on by instinct rather than design. Heads dropped, shoulders slumped. The second-half hydration break at 78 minutes offered brief respite, but no real relief.
Before that, the champions had toyed with them. In the 66th minute, Lalchungnunga’s shot clipped Raj and thudded off the post, Jesin was denied again by the goalkeeper, and Edmund then struck the woodwork. It felt like East Bengal were scoring at will and missing at will.
Jesin joins the party, record looms
For Jesin TK, the night threatened to turn into a personal frustration. He had been involved from the start, linking play and creating chances, but the goal refused to come.
That changed in the 70th minute.
Released by a through ball down the right, Jesin burst into space, took on Raj, and drilled a low shot into the net. East Bengal 6–0 CISF Protectors. The roar from the stands had as much relief for the forward as it did celebration for the scoreline.
Four minutes later, the onslaught continued. Jesin struck again in the 76th minute, beating Raj once more, before the next attack produced the eighth. Just two minutes after Jesin’s second, Vishnu met a Bipin cross and guided it home to complete his hat-trick and stretch the lead to 8–0.
By then, it had turned brutal. The scoreboard, the body language, the noise – everything pointed in one direction. East Bengal chased a margin that would stand alongside the biggest in Durand Cup history. The existing benchmark, 9–1 from Dempo SC against Real Kashmir in 2016, suddenly felt within reach.
They pushed. They pressed high even in the final ten minutes. They hunted a ninth.
It never came. A late corner in the 90th minute, swung in by Bipin, was headed off target by an East Bengal player. The referee, Jehrul Islam, soon brought an end to CISF’s ordeal.
Full-time: East Bengal 8–0 CISF Protectors.
Context, and what comes next
For CISF Protectors, already beaten twice before this clash and now staring at a likely group-stage exit, the night was harsh. A low block, some early resilience, and a goalkeeper fighting a one-man battle could only delay the inevitable. Mohun Bagan SG awaits in their final group game – another Kolkata giant, another daunting assignment.
For East Bengal, this was exactly what the coach and the supporters demanded after the derby defeat. A statement. A reminder that the ISL champion still carries bite.
The victory lifts East Bengal to second in Group A, behind Mohun Bagan SG on head-to-head but above South United, which it faces next in its final group-stage match. The group topper goes straight into the knockouts; second place may depend on other results.
On a night when Shillong Lajong beat Nongkseh SS&CC 2–0 – with goals from Mylliempdah and Lamurong – to take early control of its own group, East Bengal delivered a result to match the mood of a club that expects to dominate.
The champions have their first Durand Cup goals of the season. They have their swagger back. Now comes the real question: was this just a cathartic outburst, or the start of another relentless run?
