East Bengal FC, last year's finalists, have begun their Durand Cup 2024 campaign with a promising 3-1 win against the Indian Air Force Football Team. A combination of youngsters and new players showed that they are bringing it to the table this season and this is just the beginning.
New players Madih Talal and Dimitrios Diamantakos impressed a lot throughout the match. Talal created a flurry of chances while Saul Crespo showed sparks of partnership with both new players resulting in the two goals that won them the match after they making a comeback.

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Full-time statistics: East Bengal maintained their 60% possession till the end of the game with a whopping 11 corners in total, 27 shots in total, and 5 of these shots on target.
Referee blows the final whistle of the game and East Bengal begin their Durand Cup with a promising display of performance and 3 points from a 3-1 win against the Indian Air Force FT.
90+4' Probably the last one of the game but the nth one surely. Taken long, but doesn't connect with any of EBFC players.
90+2' IAFFT's Ansari seems to have picked up another knock but he still seems well enough to continue the rest of the two remaining minutes.
90' Diamantakos with another golden chance with enough space in front of him. The ball goes inches away from the goalpost. Referee signals 4 minutes of additional time.
88' (59) Jesin in for (8) Madih Talal out for EBFC. The fans' cheer for the player coming out and rightfully so considering his massive contribution to today's game.
84' IAFFT fail to keep the ball on their feet but they are surely still trying.
82' Taken short, Madih tries to reach teammate on the far side but couldn't connect.
80' (88) Mark Zo out for (33) Gulsimrat Gil in for EBFC
78' (7) Biswajit Halder out for (14) Zorem Sanga in
(15) Saurav Sadhukhan out for (19) Yashraj Singh in for IAFFT
76' IAFFT on the attack, get a ball inside from the left flank and win a corner.
74' Another one taken long but doesn't connect with any EBFC players and IAFFT clear it easily.
72' Ball reaches an unmarked Chungnunga who gets his head on the ball but unable to direct it inside the net.
71' IAFFT on the attack after quite some time but EBFC manage to go on counter-attack from it quickly.
69' PV Vishnu trying to beat a number of IAFFT defenders to score a goal, but goes awry.
67' Diamantakos and Crespo showing beautiful partnership. Now Diamantakos assisting and Crespo on the scoresheet, increasing the lead for EBFC.
65' Crespo tries to connect with Diamantakos again, but flagged offside this time. However, still, giving a peek at what could be great partnership in the coming season.
63' (62) Aman CK in for (23) Souvik out for EBFC
61' Diamantakos with his first goal with a brilliant header in his debut for the club takes the lead for EBFC.
60' IAFFT's Saurav Sadhukhan manages to get the ball near EBFC box with 2v1 incident, waits for teammates to arrive, but nothing productive comes.
58' EBFC coach Carles Cuadrat also receives yellow card for his reaction a few minutes back.
56' IAFFT finally manage to the ball outside their box and inside EBFC's but nothing promising comes off it.
54' Talal falls inside the opposition box and EBFC complain to the referee for a penalty. Souvik Chakraborty receives a yellow card in the process.
53' About 31m away, Talal takes a short pass and tries to get it inside the box but IAFFT do well to keep it away and cleared.
51' Diamantakos receives a good ball at a good position inside the box from Crespo but cannot connect with the ball
50' Short corner taken, try to get the ball inside the box, but cleared away, another corner earned. Long ball taken and cleared away by EBFC who run toward the opposite side of the field.
49' EBFC's Souvik takes the first shot of the second half but directly at the hands of the IAFFT gk.
48' East Bengal begin where they left off the first half with one attack after another with most time spending near and inside IAFFT box.
(82) PV Vishnu in for (29) Naorem Mahesh Singh out
(9) Dimitrios Siamantakos in for (14) Lalhansanga out
The Indian Air Force Football Team hopes to improve on last year's fourth-place result in Group C, which included a single draw against ISL club Bengaluru FC. The team is known for its powerful defense and stamina, and it contains veteran players, like Shibinraj Kunniyil, Arashpreet Singh, and Vivek Kumar, who can take on any opponent.
East Bengal Full Squad
GK: Prabhsukhan Singh Gill, Debjit Majumder
DEF: Hijazi Maher, Lalchungnunga, Gursimrat Singh Gill, Nishu Kumar, Mark Zothanpuia, Mohamad Rakip, Provat Lakra
MID: Souvik Chakrabarti, Saul Crespo, Jeakson Singh, Madih Talal, Vishnu P.V., Sayan Banerjee, Aman C.K., Tanmay Das, Shyamal Besra
FWD: Cleiton Silva, Dimitrios Diamantakos, David Lalhlansanga, Naorem Mahesh Singh, Nandhakumar Sekar
Indian Air Force FT Full Squad
GK: Dinesh
DEF: Amal Das, Saurav Mowal, Jijo Jerone, Rary S Raj, Mohd. Aqib, Ankur Singh, Kamaldeep Singh, Tombing Songliansism, Davinder Singh, Ashik KS, Arashpreet Singh
MID: Shahbaz Md., Renthlei Lalrinnunga, Mohammad Danish, Biswajit Halder, Ashok Kumar, Zeesan Ansari, Saurav Sadhukhan, Kangkhatlian Suantak, Naorem Somananda, Ameer Chherri
FWD: Prabhjot Singh, Manimaran R, Vivek Kumar, Mandeep S Singh, Zico Zorem Sanga, Yashraj Singh, Jineesh Vinaya