East Bengal FC kicked off their Durand Cup 2025 campaign in style with a dominant 5-0 win over South United FC at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan on Tuesday. Lalchungnunga, Saul Crespo, Bipin Singh, Dimitrios Diamantakos and Naorem Mahesh were the goalscorers.

A 5⃣⭐ performance from the #RedandGoldBrigade gives them a strong start in #DurandCup2025! 🥵#IndianFootball #EastBengalFC #134thEditionofIndianOilDurandCup | @eastbengal_fc pic.twitter.com/7acgRiIfhN

— Indian Super League (@IndSuperLeague) July 23, 2025

The home team looked sharp from the first whistle, controlling possession and piling pressure on the visitors, who struggled to get a foothold in the game. East Bengal FC created several chances and made them count, racing to a two-goal lead at the break.

The breakthrough came early in the 12th minute when Lalchungnunga pounced on a loose ball. After South United FC’s defence cleared a cross from Mohammad Rakip, the ball fell kindly for the defender, who smashed it from outside the box.

East Bengal FC continued to push forward and doubled their lead in the 38th minute. Edmund Lalrindika was brought down inside the box while trying to get a shot away and the referee pointed to the spot. Midfielder Saul Crespo stepped up and calmly beat the goalkeeper to make it 2-0.

The second half saw East Bengal FC maintain their grip on the game and one of the standout moments of the night came from debutant Bipin Singh, who came off the bench.

Making his first appearance in red and gold, Bipin scored East Bengal FC’s third goal after a quick counter-attack during the 79th minute. Dimitrios Diamantakos played a clever through ball that Bipin ran onto and curled a shot past the goalkeeper. The ball took a slight touch off the keeper but still ended up in the back of the net.

Diamantakos, who also came on as a substitute, made an immediate impact. In the 88th minute, he struck a brilliant free-kick from just outside the box that flew past the wall and stung the hands of the keeper before rolling into the net.

Just a few minutes later, Mahesh Naorem rounded off the night with a beautiful finish. After a short corner routine, he found space outside the box and curled a shot into the top corner, sealing a five-star performance.

The match also saw promising debuts from Edmund Lalrindika, Mohammad Rashid, Martand Raina besides Bipin, all of whom impressed.

East Bengal FC will look to carry this momentum into their next two matches, first against Namdhari FC on August 6 and then against Indian Air Force on August 10.