East Bengal's 8–0 Victory over CISF Protectors: Vishnu's Hat-Trick Shines
Kolkata wanted a response. East Bengal delivered a statement.
Four nights after the sting of a derby defeat to Mohun Bagan Super Giant, the Indian Super League champion tore into CISF Protectors with a ruthless 8–0 win in the Durand Cup 2026 at the Kishore Bharati Krirangan on Friday, a result that will echo through the tournament’s record books.
PV Vishnu walked off with the match ball after a hat-trick. Jesin TK helped himself to a brace. Jeakson Singh and Bipin Singh added one each, with an own goal completing a scoreline that bordered on brutal.
This was not a contest. It was a catharsis.
Relentless from the first whistle
From the moment CISF Protectors rolled the ball from kick-off, East Bengal snapped into them. Hardik bombed forward from right-back inside the opening minute, whipping in a cross that was hacked clear. The pattern was set: white shirts high, aggressive, and unrelenting.
By the fourth minute, the woodwork was already rattling. Edmund swung in a cross, Vishnu launched into an acrobatic effort and the ball crashed off the post. It was CISF’s first warning. It would not be their last.
East Bengal’s press pinned the Protectors deep. Edmund and Jesin buzzed around the half-spaces, Dani Ramirez dictated the tempo, and Vishnu kept dragging defenders into places they did not want to go. Chances piled up: a cutback for Jeakson that went just wide, a long-range hit from Vishnu that Raj Mathur had to palm away, a free-kick from Dani that forced another save.
CISF’s plan was clear: sit in a low block, survive, and hope. For 37 minutes, with Raj and his back line throwing themselves in front of everything, they just about did.
Then the dam burst.
Vishnu’s flair breaks the deadlock
The breakthrough came with a flash of improvisation. In the 38th minute, East Bengal again sliced through down the flank. Edmund drove into the box and cut the ball back. Vishnu, with his back to goal, flicked a deft back-heel finish into the net.
Kolkata finally exhaled. East Bengal finally led.
The goal changed everything. CISF, who had spent nearly 40 minutes clinging on, suddenly looked exposed. East Bengal smelled vulnerability and went hunting for more.
On the stroke of half-time, the pressure told again. Deep into stoppage time, Dani Ramirez pulled defenders towards him inside the box, drawing both Khalid and goalkeeper Raj into his orbit. At the last moment, he slipped the ball sideways to the unmarked Jeakson Singh, who tapped in for 3–0 after an earlier own goal had already doubled the advantage.
From a stubborn stalemate, the game had turned into a procession before the interval.
Overhead artistry and a flood of goals
Any faint hope of a CISF response after the break evaporated almost instantly.
Barely two minutes into the second half, East Bengal struck again. Sandip Mandi surged down the left and whipped in a cross. Vishnu met it with an overhead kick, steering the ball past Raj for his second of the night. Stylish, emphatic, and utterly deflating for CISF.
At 4–0, East Bengal could have eased off. Instead, it went for the jugular.
Habas dipped into his bench on the hour, sending on Bipin Singh and Rohit Kumar. The fresh legs only sharpened the edge. CISF’s resistance, already fraying, began to shred.
On 64 minutes, East Bengal broke again. A quick counter found Bipin on the right, and the winger arrived in the box to tuck his finish into the net for 5–0. CISF’s shape dissolved; East Bengal’s appetite did not.
The onslaught continued. Lalchungnunga thumped the post, Jesin was denied by Raj, and Edmund saw his effort come back off the woodwork. CISF were no longer just defending; they were simply enduring.
Jesin joins the party, Vishnu completes his hat-trick
The pressure finally crushed what little resistance remained.
In the 70th minute, Jesin finally had his goal. Released down the right with a through ball, he drove into the box, faced Raj one-on-one and drilled a low shot into the net for 6–0. It had been coming; his movement all evening deserved a reward.
Two minutes of chaos followed.
First, Jesin struck again, beating Raj once more to make it seven. CISF’s heads dropped, shoulders slumped, and the scoreboard began to look cruel.
Then Vishnu completed his night.
Bipin, lively since coming on, delivered another cross and Vishnu arrived to steer it home, sealing his hat-trick and East Bengal’s eighth. It was a simple finish, but the culmination of a performance that had shredded CISF from first minute to last.
At 8–0, it was no longer a contest. It was damage limitation.
Records, repercussions and a bruised opponent
As the game ticked into the final 10 minutes, the only question left was historical. East Bengal’s margin matched the heaviest in the Durand Cup’s recent era, nudging close to the famous 9–1 scoreline from 2016 when Dempo SC dismantled Real Kashmir.
The tempo slowed, the passes became more patient, but East Bengal still hunted a ninth. Hardik went close from distance, Bipin swung in late corners, and Jesin chased every half-chance. CISF, exhausted and deflated, simply waited for the whistle.
When referee Jehrul Islam finally called time, East Bengal walked off to applause and a sense of redemption. CISF trudged away, eight goals down and with their Durand Cup hopes hanging by a thread. Their final group game? Mohun Bagan SG — another Kolkata giant, and hardly the opponent you want after a night like this.
Group picture: response made, job not done
The result lifts East Bengal above South United and into second place in the group, still behind Mohun Bagan SG on head-to-head after that opening 1–0 defeat. The defending ISL champion has now not only “broken its duck” in the Durand Cup; it has smashed it to pieces.
Next comes South United in a final group-stage test that will decide whether this 8–0 demolition is remembered as the start of a deep cup run, or just a spectacular outburst on a humid Kolkata night.
