East Bengal Dominates CISF Protectors 8-0 in Durand Cup
Kolkata did not get a contest. It got a demolition.
Stung by a derby defeat and goalless in the Durand Cup so far, Indian Super League champion East Bengal stormed into its season with an 8-0 dismantling of CISF Protectors at the Kishore Bharati Krirangan on Friday, one of the biggest wins in the storied history of the tournament.
On a humid night in south Kolkata, PV Vishnu walked off with the match ball, Jesin TK left with a brace, and the scoreboard told a story that will echo through Group A.
From derby hangover to early onslaught
The narrative before kick-off was simple: both sides had lost their openers, both needed a result. East Bengal, beaten 1-0 by Mohun Bagan Super Giant, needed more than that. It needed a reaction.
It got one from the first whistle.
CISF Protectors kicked off, but within seconds Hardik whipped in a cross and East Bengal’s intent was clear. The ISL champion set up camp in the opposition half and never really left. In the second minute, Jesin slid a pass across from the left, forcing goalkeeper Raj Mathur into his first save. It would not be his last.
Vishnu, buzzing across the frontline, almost produced an early spectacular. In the fourth minute, he flung himself at an Edmund cross and crashed an acrobatic effort off the post. The woodwork rattled; CISF’s warning sirens should have too.
East Bengal kept coming. Edmund’s cutbacks, Hardik’s deliveries, Dani Ramirez’s set-pieces – all asked questions. Raj answered as many as he could, including a double save around the half-hour mark, first punching away a cross, then blocking a drive from Rashid. But the pressure never eased.
Vishnu breaks through, and the floodgates open
CISF tried to sit deep, to protect space rather than chase shadows. For 37 minutes, it worked. Then the champions sliced through.
In the 38th minute, Edmund drove into the box yet again and cut the ball back. Vishnu, alive to the angle and the chaos, met it with a deft back-heel that slipped past Raj and into the net. The breakthrough had been coming; the manner of it underlined the gulf in class.
CISF’s resistance sagged. Just before the interval, East Bengal struck again. Deep into first-half stoppage time, Dani Ramirez drew both Raj and defender MD Khalid towards him and then slipped a simple pass to the unmarked Jeakson Singh. The India midfielder rolled the ball into an empty net for 3-0.
An own goal had already widened the gap, and at half-time the contest was effectively over. The champions went in three up, dominant in every phase, and still hungry.
Second half: a statement, not a stroll
Some teams ease off with a big lead. East Bengal did the opposite.
Barely two minutes after the restart, Sandip Mandi swung in a cross from the left. Vishnu, again at the heart of it, launched into an overhead kick and guided the ball past Raj. At 4-0, the scoreline matched the pattern of the game: relentless pressure, ruthless finishing.
CISF, pinned back in its own third, tried to cling to shape. It could not cling to hope.
On 64 minutes, another rapid counter ripped it open. As Jesin tested Raj from distance, East Bengal immediately recycled the attack. A cross from the right found Bipin Singh, who had just come on. The winger arrived unmarked and coolly tucked his finish into the corner for 5-0.
The substitutions did not slow the tempo. If anything, they sharpened it. Habas used the second half to test his bench, but every fresh pair of legs came on with a point to prove.
Lalchungnunga rattled the post with a fierce strike after a touch from Raj, Jesin saw another effort saved, and Edmund was denied by the woodwork. CISF’s defence, stretched and exhausted, was now simply hanging on.
Jesin joins the party, Vishnu seals his hat-trick
The pressure finally told again in the 70th minute. Jesin, who had run the channels tirelessly all evening, finally had his goal. Released with a through ball down the right, he drove into the box, beat Raj, and drilled a low shot into the net. Six.
By then, CISF heads were down. Bodies were heavy. The second hydration break came as a brief pause in the onslaught, but it offered no real respite.
When play resumed, East Bengal went back to work. In the 76th minute, Jesin struck again, beating Raj once more to push the score to seven and deepen the sense of embarrassment for the Protectors.
Barely two minutes later, the hat-trick moment arrived. Bipin, dangerous from the flank since his introduction, swung in another cross. Vishnu read it early, attacked the space, and steered his finish home. Eight-nil, and a personal treble for the forward who had set the tone from the opening minutes.
At that point, the only question was historical. The margin matched the heaviest in recent Durand Cup memory – the 9-1 scoreline from 2016 when Dempo SC beat Real Kashmir – and East Bengal kept pushing to surpass it. Long-range efforts flew in, crosses kept coming, and CISF retreated deeper and deeper, desperate for the whistle.
It never became nine, but the damage was done long before the 90th minute.
A night that resets the group – and East Bengal’s mood
When referee Jehrul Islam finally ended the contest, CISF Protectors had endured 90 punishing minutes without a single reply. East Bengal walked off with three points, eight goals, and a statement that reverberates beyond Group A.
The result lifts the ISL champion to second in the standings, above South United but still behind Mohun Bagan Super Giant on head-to-head after that opening defeat. The final group match against South United now carries a different edge: less about survival, more about momentum and positioning.
For CISF Protectors, already beaten by South United, this was brutal. Morale looked shattered by the final whistle, and the prospect of facing Mohun Bagan SG next will feel daunting in the extreme.
Elsewhere in the group, Shillong Lajong did its job with a 2-0 win over Nongkseh SS&CC, goals from Mylliempdah and Lamurong keeping it in control of its own fate.
But this night belonged to East Bengal. To Vishnu’s hat-trick. To Jesin’s brace. To a champion that chose not just to respond to a derby defeat, but to tear up the script of its slow start.
If this is the level it can sustain, how many more nights like this will the Durand Cup have to absorb?
