Title contenders East Bengal suffered a huge jolt after failing to win against Prayag United after taking a 2-0 lead. Prayag made a remarkable recovery and rallied to comeback 2-2 at the end of the game. However, the game’s highlight was Gurpreet Singh Sandhu’s howler. Gurpreet Singh, East Bengal’s young goalie and one of India’s prospect for future made a mess of a shot from Carlos Hernandez, what seemed to be a regular collection for a goalkeeper at any level. However, he dropped the ball and it spun it between his legs and rolled passed the goal line. The goal allowed Prayag United to make a comeback in the game.
Unable to secure 3 full points, and with only 4 matches left, East Bengal remain in 2nd place. The fans were enraged and were showing their anger, focused mostly on Gurpreet, in front of the team bus. Gurpreet walked towards the bus and while climbing up displayed an obscene gesture towards the fans by showing his middle finger.
The gesture further enraged East Bengal faithfuls, who wondered how can a player after such a mistake, go on insulting the fans as well. Few fans even said that such players hardly care about the team and only look for money. Many compared his actions with former Indian cricket coach Greg Chappell who had shown similar gesture to angry fans in Kolkata. On the other hand, East Bengal fans also need to realize that they need to be patient with players, only last year a fan had spit on coach Trevor Morgan. It seems the conflict between fans and players see no end in Kolkata.
Later in social network, Gurpreet had apologized for his actions saying “Sorry to all the supporters of east bengal for what i did after the game.. I hope you forgive me! Lesson learned. Sorry”
