2021–22 SC East Bengal season

East Bengal

2021–22 season
Owner	Shree Cement East Bengal Foundation
Head coach	Manolo Díaz (until 28 December 2021)[1][2] Renedy Singh[2] (interim; from 28 December 2021 until 1 January 2022)[2] Mario Rivera Campesino (from 1 January 2022)[3]
Stadium	Tilak Maidan Stadium[A]
ISL	11th
CFL	Withdrew
Top goalscorer	League: Antonio Perošević (4 goals) All: Antonio Perošević (4 goals)
Average home league attendance	Closed doors[A]
Biggest win	Goa 1–2 East Bengal (19 January 2022)
Home colours Away colours Third colours
← 2020–21 2022–23 →
All statistics correct as of 28 February 2022.

The 2021–22 season was the 102nd season of Sporting Club East Bengal (EB or SCEB) and their second season in the Indian Super League. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021–22 Indian Super League season began on 19 November 2021 and ended on 20 March 2022 with all the matches held in Goa across three venues just like the previous season.^[4][5]

The 2021-22 season is once again set to be played entirely in Goa due to COVID-19 pandemic.^[4][5] The league committee also announced that the number of foreign players that can be registered and fielded is to be reduced, with four foreign players in the playing eleven and a maximum of six can be registered, one of which should be from an Asian nation.^[6]

On 8 June, East Bengal Club was handed a transfer ban by FIFA for non-payment of dues for former player Johnny Acosta.^[7][8] The club was also uncertain to participate in the 2020–21 season of Indian Super League as the row between the club and their prime investor group was yet to resolve which threatened their participation in any footballing activity for the season.^[9][10] The AIFF and the FSDL had asked the club authorities to sort out the mess between the club and the investor group soon.^[11] East Bengal coach Robbie Fowler too expressed his dissatisfaction over the issue and slammed the club officials for their delay in signing the final termsheet.^[12][13] On 25 June, the club announced that they have cleared off the dues for Johnny Acosta and hence expect the transfer ban to be uplifted by FIFA soon.^[14][15] On 5 July, FIFA officially uplifted the transfer ban on East Bengal,^[16] however, the club was on the verge of facing another transfer ban due to non-payment of dues for three more former players: Rakshit Dagar, Pintu Mahata and Abhash Thapa.^[16][17] On 6 August, The All India Football Federation handed another transfer ban to East Bengal due to the non-payment of dues for the three aforementioned players.^[18][19] On 26 August, the transfer ban was lifted by the AIFF after SC East Bengal cleared the dues for the three players.^[20]

Due to the tussle between the club and the investor group, East Bengal lost out on a few of their star performers from last season including Bright Enobakhare, Debjit Majumder, Sarthak Golui, Narayan Das and Matti Steinmann.^[21] The fans put up a huge protest in front of the club premises on 21 July demanding an immediate solution for the situation.^{[22][23][24][25]} On 25 August, the long-running tussle between the club and the investor group finally came to a solution after a mediatory intervention by the Chief minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee, and it was announced that the club will be participating in the 2021–22 Indian Super League with Shree Cement staying on as the investors.^{[26][27][28][29]}

Date	No.	Pos.	Name	Signed from	Fee	Ref
31 August 2021	2	DF	Daniel Gomes	Salgaocar	Undisclosed	[30]
31 August 2021	17	DF	Sarineo Fernandes	Goa	Undisclosed	[31]
2 September 2021	19	MF	Romeo Fernandes	Goa	Free Transfer	[32]
3 September 2021	20	DF	Hira Mondal	Mohammedan	Free Transfer	[33]
3 September 2021	12	DF	Joyner Lourenco	Jamshedpur	Free Transfer	[34]
6 September 2021	29	GK	Arindam Bhattacharya	ATK Mohun Bagan	Free Transfer	[35]
7 September 2021	18	MF	Sourav Das	Mumbai City	Free Transfer	[36]
7 September 2021	16	MF	Songpu Singsit	Neroca	Free Transfer	[37]
7 September 2021	24	FW	Thongkhosiem Haokip	Bengaluru	Free Transfer	[38]
9 September 2021	82	DF	Lalrinliana Hnamte	Hyderabad	Free Transfer	[39]
11 September 2021	21	MF	Amir Dervišević	Maribor	Free Transfer	[40]
14 September 2021	4	DF	Tomislav Mrcela	Perth Glory	Free Transfer	[41]
15 September 2021	71	DF	Franjo Prce	Slaven Belupo	Free Transfer	[42]
16 September 2021	27	FW	Daniel Chima Chukwu	Taizhou Yuanda	Free Transfer	[43]
17 September 2021	6	MF	Darren Sidoel	Córdoba	Free Transfer	[44]
23 September 2021	7	FW	Antonio Perošević	Újpest	Free Transfer	[45]
7 October 2021	45	DF	Saikhom Goutam Singh	Hyderabad II	Free Transfer	[46]
7 October 2021	43	FW	Siddhant Shirodkar	Calangute Association	Free Transfer	[47]
7 October 2021	26	DF	Akashdeep Singh Kahlon	Sudeva Delhi	Free Transfer	[47]
25 January 2022	77	MF	Fran Sota	Calahorra	Free Transfer	[48]
27 January 2022	99	FW	Rahul Paswan	BSS	Free Transfer	[49]
12 February 2022	30	DF	Ananta Tamang	Three Star Club	Free Transfer	[50]

Start date	End date	No.	Pos.	Name	Loaned from	Ref
30 August 2021	End of season	80	MF	Amarjit Singh Kiyam	Goa	[51]
31 August 2021	End of season	5	FD	Adil Khan	Hyderabad	[52]
31 August 2021	End of season	10	MF	Jackichand Singh	Mumbai City	[53]
31 August 2021	End of season	11	FW	Subha Ghosh	Kerala Blasters	[54]
31 August 2021	End of season	13	FW	Naorem Mahesh Singh	Kerala Blasters	[55]
10 January 2022	End of season	9	FW	Marcelo Ribeiro	Gil Vicente	[56]
31 January 2022	End of season	50	DF	Naocha Singh	Mumbai City	[57]

Exit Date	No.	Pos.	Name	Signed to	Fee	Ref
1 June 2021	—	MF	Brandon Vanlalremdika	Mohammedan	Released	[58]
1 June 2021	—	DF	Rino Anto	Roundglass Punjab	Released	[59]
1 June 2021	—	DF	Gurtej Singh	Roundglass Punjab	Released	[60]
1 June 2021	—	DF	Soraisam Pritam Singh	Hyderabad	Released	[61]
1 June 2021	—	MF	Prakash Sarkar	Calcutta Customs	Released	[62]
1 June 2021	—	DF	Calum Woods	Bala Town	Released	[63]
1 June 2021	—	DF	Keegan Pereira	Roundglass Punjab	Released	[64]
1 June 2021	—	LB	Sagolsem Bikash Singh	TRAU	Released	[65]
1 June 2021	4	DF	Danny Fox	—	Released	[66]
1 June 2021	10	FW	Bright Enobakhare	Coventry City	Released	[67]
1 June 2021	12	MF	Jeje Lalpekhlua	—	Released	[66]
1 June 2021	16	DF	Rana Gharami	Bengaluru United	Released	[66]
1 June 2021	17	MF	Yumnam Singh	Bengaluru United	Released	[68]
1 June 2021	18	MF	Eugeneson Lyngdoh	—	Released	[66]
1 June 2021	19	MF	Jacques Maghoma	Spalding United	Released	[69]
1 June 2021	20	FW	Aaron Amadi-Holloway	Burton Albion	Released	[70]
1 June 2021	21	LB	Narayan Das	Chennaiyin	Released	[71]
1 June 2021	22	MF	Anthony Pilkington	Fleetwood Town	Released	[72]
1 June 2021	24	GK	Debjit Majumder	Chennaiyin	Released	[73]
1 June 2021	26	MF	Sehnaj Singh	NorthEast United	Released	[74]
1 June 2021	27	RB	Lalramchullova	Mohammedan	Released	[75]
1 June 2021	28	FW	Girik Khosla	Sreenidi Deccan	Released	[76]
1 June 2021	29	MF	Surchandra Singh	Real Kashmir	Released	[77]
1 June 2021	30	FW	C. K. Vineeth	Roundglass Punjab	Released	[64]
1 June 2021	32	GK	Mirshad Michu	NorthEast United	Released	[78]
1 June 2021	34	FW	Harmanpreet Singh	Bengaluru	Released	[79]
1 June 2021	35	MF	Milan Singh	Mohammedan	Released	[80]
1 June 2021	70	DF	Sarthak Golui	Bengaluru	Released	[81]
16 June 2021	6	CM	Matti Steinmann	Brisbane Roar	Free Transfer	[82]
8 November 2021	—	CB	Asheer Akhtar	Mohammedan	Released	[83]
15 January 2022	27	FW	Daniel Chima Chukwu	Jamshedpur	Free Transfer	[84]
25 January 2022	21	MF	Amir Dervišević	—	Released	[48]
17 February 2022	4	DF	Tomislav Mrcela	WS Wanderers	Released	[85]

As of 5 March 2022^[86][83]

No.	Name	Nat.	Pos.	Date of Birth (Age)	Signed From	Apps	Goals
Goalkeepers
1	Sankar Roy		GK	(1995-05-09) 9 May 1995 (age 29)	ATK Mohun Bagan	6	0
25	Suvam Sen		GK	(1989-11-14) 14 November 1989 (age 34)	United	5	0
29	Arindam Bhattacharya (captain)		GK	(1989-12-11) 11 December 1989 (age 34)	ATK Mohun Bagan	11	0
Defenders
2	Daniel Gomes		CB	(1997-09-07) 7 September 1997 (age 27)	Salgaocar	2	0
5	Adil Khan (vice-captain)		CB	(1988-07-07) 7 July 1988 (age 36)	Hyderabad	14	0
12	Joyner Lourenco		CB	(1991-09-08) 8 September 1991 (age 33)	Jamshedpur	11	0
17	Sarineo Fernandes		LB	(1999-02-09) 9 February 1999 (age 25)	Goa	0	0
20	Hira Mondal		LB	(1996-08-31) 31 August 1996 (age 28)	Mohammedan Sporting	16	0
26	Akashdeep Singh Kahlon		RB	(1993-07-26) 26 July 1993 (age 31)	Sudeva Delhi	0	0
30	Ananta Tamang		CB	(1998-01-14) 14 January 1998 (age 26)	Three Star Club	1	0
45	Saikhom Goutam Singh		CB/RB	(2002-01-27) 27 January 2002 (age 22)	Hyderabad II	0	0
47	Raju Gaikwad		CB/RB	(1990-09-25) 25 September 1990 (age 34)	Kerala Blasters	90	1
50	Naocha Singh		LB	(1999-08-24) 24 August 1999 (age 25)	Mumbai City	5	0
55	Ankit Mukherjee		RB	(1996-07-10) 10 July 1996 (age 28)	ATK Mohun Bagan	18	0
71	Franjo Prce		CB/LB	(1996-01-07) 7 January 1996 (age 28)	Slaven Belupo	15	1
Midfielders
6	Darren Sidoel		DM	(1998-03-10) 10 March 1998 (age 26)	Córdoba	11	3
8	Mohammed Rafique		CM	(1991-03-26) 26 March 1991 (age 33)	Mumbai City	116	10
10	Jackichand Singh		RW	(1992-03-17) 17 March 1992 (age 32)	Mumbai City	14	0
14	Wahengbam Angousana		CM	(1996-02-02) 2 February 1996 (age 28)	TRAU	28	0
16	Songpu Singsit		LW	(1999-06-02) 2 June 1999 (age 25)	Neroca	2	0
18	Sourav Das		CM	(1996-06-20) 20 June 1996 (age 28)	Mumbai City	21	0
19	Romeo Fernandes		RW	(1992-07-06) 6 July 1992 (age 32)	Goa	9	0
22	Lalrinliana Hnamte		DM	(2003-04-29) 29 April 2003 (age 21)	Hyderabad	17	1
23	Bikash Jairu		LW	(1990-11-10) 10 November 1990 (age 33)	Jamshedpur	49	6
33	Loken Meitei		CM/LW	(1997-05-04) 4 May 1997 (age 27)	TRAU	1	0
77	Fran Sota		CM	(1990-10-30) 30 October 1990 (age 34)	Calahorra	5	0
80	Amarjit Singh Kiyam		DM	(2001-01-06) 6 January 2001 (age 23)	Goa	16	0
Forwards
7	Antonio Perošević		FW	(1992-03-06) 6 March 1992 (age 32)	Újpest	14	4
9	Marcelo Ribeiro		FW	(1997-07-27) 27 July 1997 (age 27)	Gil Vicente	6	0
11	Subha Ghosh		FW	(2000-12-22) 22 December 2000 (age 23)	Kerala Blasters	3	0
13	Naorem Mahesh Singh		FW	(1999-03-01) 1 March 1999 (age 25)	Kerala Blasters	18	2
15	Balwant Singh		FW	(1986-12-15) 15 December 1986 (age 37)	ATK	8	0
24	Thongkhosiem Haokip		FW	(1993-03-13) 13 March 1993 (age 31)	Bengaluru	20	3
43	Siddhant Shirodkar		FW	(2003-03-04) 4 March 2003 (age 21)	Calangute Association	1	0
99	Rahul Paswan		FW	(1998-04-19) 19 April 1998 (age 26)	BSS	1	0

No.	Pos.	Date	Name	Ref.
55	DF	29 August 2021	Ankit Mukherjee	[87]
47	DF	29 August 2021	Raju Gaikwad	[88]
1	GK	30 August 2021	Sankar Roy	[89]

On 8 September, East Bengal announced that the club has mutually terminated the contract with coach Robbie Fowler,^[90] and announced the arrival of former Real Madrid Castilla coach Manolo Díaz as the new head coach for the season.^[1][91][92] East Bengal also appointed former Real Madrid coach Angel Puebla Garcia as the assistant coach. He will also be fulfilling the responsibilities of a strength and fitness coach.^[93] The club also announced that Renedy Singh will be continuing his role as the assistant coach.^[93] East Bengal appointed Malaysian fitness coach Joseph Ronald D'Angelus as the head of sport science,^[94] and former Chelsea and Crystal Palace coach Leslie Cleevely as the goalkeeping coach for the season.^[95] On 28 September, East Bengal announced the signing of former head-coach Mridul Banerjee as the team manager.^[96] On 11 November, East Bengal announced that they have parted ways with Joseph Ronald D'Angelus due to some personal reasons.^[97]

On 28 December, East Bengal announced that they have parted ways with head coach Manolo Díaz and assistant Angel Puebla Garcia after they failed to win even one game in their eight-match tenure. Renedy Singh has been appointed as the interim head coach of the team.^[2] On 1 January, East Bengal announced that former head coach Mario Rivera Campesino has been appointed as the new head coach for the season.^[3] On 16 January, East Bengal announced that goalkeeper coach Les Cleevely would leave his position and return home for personal reasons and he would be replaced by Mihir Sawant.^[98] On 6 February, East Bengal announced the appointment of Victor Herrero Forcada as the assistant coach for the remainder of the season.^[99]

Position	Name
Head coach	Mario Rivera Campesino
Assistant coach	Victor Herrero Forcada
Strength & Conditioning coach	Rudra Pratim Roy
Goalkeeping coach	Mihir Sawant
Team Manager	Mridul Banerjee

East Bengal launched its kits for the season on 6 November 2021. The traditional red and gold fields, vertically split into two halves returned after four seasons as the home kit. The away kit is white with red and gold trim on the collar, sleeves, and bottom of the shirt. The third kit is an evolution of last season's away kit, paying tribute to Bengal's love for fish and East Bengal's connection with Ilish (Hilsa).^[100]

Home

Away

Third

Goalkeeper (1)

Goalkeeper (2)

Goalkeeper (3)

East Bengal started their squad building for the new season late, only after the settlement between the club and the investor group on 25 August.^[101][102] Hira Mondal became the first recruit of the window from Mohammedan Sporting.^[33] On 29 August, the club signed the former India U-17 captain Amarjit Singh Kiyam on a season-long loan from Goa.^[103][104] The club also roped in young left-back Sarineo Fernandes from Goa^[31][105] and Sourav Das from Mumbai City on a permanent transfer.^[36] On 31 August, the deadline day, East Bengal signed a handful of players: Songpu Singsit from Neroca,^[37] Romeo Fernandes from Goa,^[32] Joyner Lourenco from Jamshedpur,^[34] Thongkhosiem Haokip from Bengaluru,^[38] Daniel Gomes from Salgaocar,^[30] Subha Ghosh and Naorem Mahesh Singh on loan from Kerala Blasters,^[54][55] Jackichand Singh on loan from Mumbai City,^[53] and Adil Khan on loan from Hyderabad.^[52] On 6 September, East Bengal announced the signing of 2020-21 Indian Super League golden gloves winning goalkeeper Arindam Bhattacharya in a free-transfer from ATK Mohun Bagan.^[35][106]

On 11 September, East Bengal announced their first foreign signing of the season as they roped in Slovenian midfielder Amir Dervišević from NK Maribor on a free transfer.^[40][107] East Bengal also roped in former Perth Glory defender Tomislav Mrcela,^[41][108] former Lazio defender Franjo Prce,^[42][109] Nigerian forward Daniel Chima Chukwu,^[43][110] former Ajax under–19 captain Darren Sidoel,^[44][111] and Croatian forward Antonio Perošević as the foreign signings for the season.^[45][112]

The East Bengal team and staff reached Goa on 29–30 September and after spending a mandatory quarantine of seven days in the team hotel, the team started their pre-season training.^[113] East Bengal will be playing few friendly matches against other Indian Super League teams as a part of their pre-season preparation ahead of the Indian Super League campaign.^[114][115] On 14 October, East Bengal announced two pre-season friendly matches against Goa Professional League teams: Vasco and Salgaocar on 15 and 16 October at the Don Bosco Ground in Fatorda.^[116] In the first pre-season match against Vasco, East Bengal won 3–1 with Thongkhosiem Haokip, Subha Ghosh and Siddhant Shirodkar scoring the team.^[117][47] In the second match against Salgaocar, East Bengal won 2–0 with midfielders Amir Dervišević and Sourav Das scoring for the team.^[118] In the third pre-season game on 20 October, East Bengal defeated the reigning I-League champions Gokulam Kerala 2–1 with goals from Balwant Singh and Wahengbam Angousana.^[119] On 13 November, East Bengal announced their veteran goalkeeper Arindam Bhattacharya as the captain and Croatian defender Tomislav Mrcela as the vice-captain for the season.^[120] On 14 November, East Bengal faced 2020–21 Indian Super League champions Mumbai City in their fourth pre-season friendly and held the defending champions to a 1–1 draw. Cassinho scored for Mumbai in the first half while Sourav Das scored the equaliser for East Bengal in the second half.^[121]

  Win   Draw   Loss

East Bengal v Vasco

15 October 2021 Friendly	East Bengal	3–1	Vasco	Fatorda, Goa
08:00 IST	Haokip 38' Ghosh 54' Shirodkar 87'	Report	Costa 84'	Stadium: Don Bosco Ground

East Bengal v Salgaocar

16 October 2021 Friendly	East Bengal	2–0	Salgaocar	Fatorda, Goa
08:00 IST	Dervišević 6' (pen.) Das 65'	Report		Stadium: Don Bosco Ground

East Bengal v Gokulam Kerala

20 October 2021 Friendly	East Bengal	2–1	Gokulam Kerala	Fatorda, Goa
15:30 IST	Balwant 40' Angousana 45+2'	Report	Osumanu 71'	Stadium: Don Bosco Ground

East Bengal v Mumbai City

14 November 2021 Friendly	East Bengal	1–1	Mumbai City	Nagoa, Goa
16:00 IST	Das 60'	Report	Cassinho 45'	Stadium: Nagoa Village Panchayat Football Ground

On 1 July 2021, the Indian Football Association announced that the 2021–22 Calcutta Premier Division will be held in mid-August, without any spectators, adhering to all the protocols due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^{[124][125][126][127]} The committee has also announced that there will be a change in the format of the tournament with 14 teams likely to be divided into two groups and the top 8 teams will reach the knockout stage and play each other in the quarter-finals.^[128] However, the participation of East Bengal club was uncertain due to the tussle between the club and the investor group.^[129][130] On 25 August, after the differences were put to a stop by the intervention of Mamata Banerjee, the club has expressed the willingness to participate in the Calcutta Football League.^[131]

The fixtures for the 2021–22 Calcutta Premier Division was officially announced on 1 August by the Indian Football Association.^[132] East Bengal was set to start their campaign on 31 August against Bhawanipore,^[133][134] however, the club informed the IFA about the unavailability of the team and the match was cancelled.^[135] On 6 September, the IFA released fresh schedule for East Bengal where they are supposed to face BSS Sporting Club on 7 September,^[135] however, East Bengal management has notified the IFA that the team is not available yet and they will not be participating in the tournament.^[122] The IFA decided to handover all the matches to the respective opponents as walkovers and East Bengal finished at the bottom of the group.^[122][123]

Group A

  Win   Draw   Loss   Void

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021–22 season will once again be held entirely in Goa under a secured bio-bubble.^[4][5] The club was allotted the Tilak Maidan Stadium as their home ground for the season.^[137] On 13 September, the fixtures for the first leg was announced.^{[137][138][139]}

East Bengal began their campaign against Jamshedpur at the Tilak Maidan Stadium on 21 November with a 1–1 draw, with Franjo Prce putting East Bengal ahead in the seventeenth minute only for Peter Hartley to equalise in the injury time of the first half to share points.^[140] East Bengal faced ATK Mohun Bagan FC next in the Kolkata Derby at the Tilak Maidan Stadium on 27 November and suffered a 0–3 defeat with three first-half goals from Roy Krishna, Manvir Singh and Liston Colaco.^[141] Coach Manolo Diaz admitted that there is a big gap in quality between the two teams.^[142] East Bengal faced Odisha next on 30 November at the Tilak Maidan and suffered a 6–4 defeat. Darren Sidoel had put East Bengal ahead in the 13th minute but Odisha rallied from behind with Héctor Rodas scoring twice and Javier Hernández scoring directly from the corner-kick to take a 3–1 lead at half time. Aridai Cabrera scored two more in the second half while Isak Vanlalruatfela scored another as Odisha scored six goals against East Bengal in consecutive matches. Thongkhosiem Haokip scored one and Daniel Chima Chukwu scored twice as East Bengal reduced the margin late in the game.^[143] East Bengal coach Manolo Diaz expressed his frustrations after the game as he claimed: "We don't have enough quality to play matches in the Indian Super League".^[144]

East Bengal faced Chennaiyin in their fourth match on 3 December and managed a 0–0 goalless draw against the two-time champions. Hira Mondal was adjudged the man-of-the-match for his excellent defensive display to secure one point for the team.^[145][146] On 7 December, East Bengal went down 3–4 against Goa at the Tilak Maidan Stadium. Antonio Perosevic scored a brace while Amir Dervisevic scored one for East Bengal while Alberto Noguera scored twice along with goals from Jorge Ortiz and an own-goal from Perosevic as East Bengal suffered their third defeat in five matches.^[147] East Bengal faced Kerala Blasters next on 12 December at the Tilak Maidan and drew 1–1. Australian defender Tomislav Mrcela put East Bengal ahead in the thirty-seventh minute of the game with a header from a long throw-in by Raju Gaikwad but Álvaro Vázquez equalised for Kerala just before the half-time as both teams shared points.^[148] On 17 December, East Bengal faced NorthEast United and succumbed to their fourth defeat as the Highlanders won 2–0 with two second-half goals from V.P. Suhair and Patrick Flottmann.^[149] Croatian forward Antonio Perosevic was given marching orders after he assaulted the referee in the dying minutes of the game.^[150] The Croatian was handed a five-match ban for the incident.^[151][152] East Bengal faced Hyderabad in their eighth match on 23 December at the GMC Athletic Stadium and managed to get another point after the match ended 1–1. Amir Dervisevic put East Bengal ahead in the 20th minute from a free-kick but Bartholomew Ogbeche restored parity in the 35th minute as both the teams shared the points.^[153]

On 4 January, East Bengal faced Bengaluru at the Bambolim Stadium and managed another 1–1 draw, led by interim head coach Renedy Singh. Thongkhosiem Haokip put East Bengal ahead in the 28th minute of the game with a header from a set piece by Wahengbam Angousana. Bengaluru equalised in the second half via an own goal from Sourav Das in the 55th minute as both teams shared points.^[154] East Bengal faced the defending champions Mumbai City next on 7 January at the Tilak Maidan Stadium and played out a goalless draw to end the first leg of the season without a single win.^[155] Renedy Singh, who was once again in charge of the team, applauded his injury-stricken side for the performance against the defending champions despite playing with just one foreign player.^[156] East Bengal faced Jamshedpur in the next match on 11 January and suffered another defeat as Ishan Pandita scored a late winner in the 88th minute to hand Jamshedpur a 1–0 win. Interim head coach Renedy Singh had fielded an all Indian starting eleven against Jamshedpur, a first of a kind in the history of the Indian Super League.^[157]

On 19 January, East Bengal faced Goa at the Bambolim Stadium and snatched their first victory of the season as they won 2–1 with Naorem Mahesh Singh scoring a brace for the team. Alberto Noguera scored the only goal for Goa. East Bengal thus ended their winless streak after 346 days, since their victory against Jamshedpur in the previous season.^[158] This was also the first game in charge for new head coach Mario Rivera.^[159] East Bengal faced Hyderabad next on 24 January at the Bambolim Stadium and suffered a 4–0 defeat. Bartholomew Ogbeche scored a hattrick while Aniket Jadhav scored the other as East Bengal suffered their sixth defeat of the season.^[160] On 29 January, East Bengal faced rivals ATK Mohun Bagan and suffered a 3–1 defeat after conceding two late goals in the injury time, as Kiyan Nassiri scored a hattrick for ATK Mohun Bagan after Darren Sidoel had put East Bengal ahead in the 56th minute.^[161]

On 2 February, East Bengal faced Chennaiyin at the Tilak Maidan and rallied from 0–2 behind to make a 2–2 comeback in the injury time. Chennaiyin took the lead in the second minute after Hira Mondal scored an own-goal and Ninthoinganba Meetei doubled the lead in the 15th minute. Darren Sidoel scored directly from a free-kick in the 61st minute for East Bengal to reduce the deficit while Lalrinliana Hnamte headed in the equaliser in the 91st minute to complete the comeback and earn another point for East Bengal.^[162]

The season fixtures for the first 10 matches were released on 13 September. East Bengal began their campaign against Jamshedpur on 21 November 2021.^[137] The second half of the fixtures were announced on 21 December.^[163]

  Win   Draw   Loss   Void

East Bengal v Jamshedpur

21 November 2021 1	East Bengal	1–1	Jamshedpur	Vasco da Gama, Goa
19:30 IST	Prce 17' Das  49'	Report	Hartley 45' Gahlot  79'	Stadium: Tilak Maidan Stadium Attendance: 0[A] Referee: Crystal John Man of the Match: Antonio Perošević (East Bengal)

East Bengal v ATK Mohun Bagan

27 November 2021 2	East Bengal	0–3	ATK Mohun Bagan	Vasco da Gama, Goa
19:30 IST	Hnamte  7' Sidoel  27' Perošević  83'	Report	Krishna 14' Singh 14' Colaco 23'	Stadium: Tilak Maidan Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Rahul Kumar Gupta Man of the Match: Joni Kauko (ATK Mohun Bagan)

Odisha v East Bengal

30 November 2021 3	Odisha	6–4	East Bengal	Vasco da Gama, Goa
19:30 IST	Rodas 33', 40' Hernandez 45' Cabrera 71', 90+3' Vanlalruatfela 82'	Report	Sidoel 13' Mondal  61' Haokip 81' Chukwu 90', 90+2' (pen.)	Stadium: Tilak Maidan Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Harish Kundu Man of the Match: Héctor Rodas (Odisha)

Chennaiyin v East Bengal

3 December 2021 4	Chennaiyin	0–0	East Bengal	Vasco da Gama, Goa
19:30 IST	Ali  55' Damjanović  74'	Report	Das  90'	Stadium: Tilak Maidan Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Crystal John Man of the Match: Hira Mondal (East Bengal)

East Bengal v Goa

7 December 2021 5	East Bengal	3–4	Goa	Vasco da Gama, Goa
19:30 IST	Perošević 25', 59' Dervišević 37' Khan  65' Gaikwad  83'	Report	Noguera 14', 79' Gama  19' Fernandes  25' Ortiz 32' (pen.) Perošević 44' (o.g.)	Stadium: Tilak Maidan Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: C. R. Srikrishna Man of the Match: Alberto Noguera (Goa)

East Bengal v Kerala Blasters

12 December 2021 6	East Bengal	1–1	Kerala Blasters	Vasco da Gama, Goa
19:30 IST	Haokip  11' Kiyam  23' Mrcela 37' Hnamte  65'	Report	Vázquez 44'	Stadium: Tilak Maidan Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: R Venkatesh Man of the Match: Adrian Luna (Kerala Blasters)

NorthEast United v East Bengal

17 December 2021 7	NorthEast United	2–0	East Bengal	Margao, Goa
19:30 IST	Rochharzela  41' Lalkhawpuimawia  46' Suhair 61' Flottmann 68'	Report	Naorem  45' Perošević  90'	Stadium: Fatorda Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Rahul Kumar Gupta Man of the Match: Khassa Camara (NorthEast United)

Hyderabad v East Bengal

23 December 2021 8	Hyderabad	1–1	East Bengal	Bambolim, Goa
19:30 IST	Ogbeche 35' Juanan  90'	Report	Dervišević 20' Naorem  90'	Stadium: GMC Athletic Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Aditya Purkayastha Man of the Match: Lalrinliana Hnamte (East Bengal)

Bengaluru v East Bengal

4 January 2022 9	Bengaluru	1–1	East Bengal	Bambolim, Goa
19:30 IST	Roshan  27' Das 55' (o.g.)	Report	Bhattacharya  3' Haokip 28' Mukherjee  87'	Stadium: GMC Athletic Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Harish Kundu Man of the Match: Adil Khan (East Bengal)

East Bengal v Mumbai City

7 January 2022 10	East Bengal	0–0	Mumbai City	Vasco da Gama, Goa
19:30 IST	Balwant  90'	Report	Jahouh  81'	Stadium: Tilak Maidan Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Senthil Nathan Man of the Match: Sourav Das (East Bengal)

Jamshedpur v East Bengal

11 January 2022 11	Jamshedpur	1–0	East Bengal	Bambolim, Goa
19:30 IST	Pandita 88'	Report		Stadium: GMC Athletic Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Crystal John Man of the Match: Greg Stewart (Jamshedpur)

Goa v East Bengal

19 January 2022 12	Goa	1–2	East Bengal	Bambolim, Goa
19:30 IST	Noguera 37' Jesuraj  45'	Report	Naorem 9', 42' Balwant  90'	Stadium: GMC Athletic Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Aditya Purkayastha Man of the Match: Naorem Mahesh Singh (East Bengal)

East Bengal v Hyderabad

24 January 2022 13	East Bengal	0–4	Hyderabad	Vasco da Gama, Goa
19:30 IST	Mukherjee  26' Prce 85'	Report	Ogbeche 21', 44', 74' Rai  38' Jadhav 45'	Stadium: Tilak Maidan Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Rahul Kumar Gupta Man of the Match: Bartholomew Ogbeche (Hyderabad)

ATK Mohun Bagan v East Bengal

29 January 2022 14	ATK Mohun Bagan	3–1	East Bengal	Margao, Goa
19:30 IST	Williams  44' 67' Nassiri 64', 90', 90' McHugh  79'	Report	Sidoel 56' Mondal  60'	Stadium: Fatorda Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Crystal John Man of the Match: Kiyan Nassiri (ATK Mohun Bagan)

East Bengal v Chennaiyin

2 February 2022 15	East Bengal	2–2	Chennaiyin	Vasco da Gama, Goa
19:30 IST	Mondal  12' Sidoel 61' Hnamte 90'	Report	Mondal 2' (o.g.) Meetei 15' Dhot  38'	Stadium: Tilak Maidan Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Ashwin Man of the Match: Darren Sidoel (East Bengal)

East Bengal v Odisha

7 February 2022 16	East Bengal	1–2	Odisha	Vasco da Gama, Goa
19:30 IST	Perošević 64'  66'	Report	Jonathas 23' Hernández 75' Panwar  89'	Stadium: Tilak Maidan Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Rowan Arumughan Man of the Match: Javi Hernández (Odisha)

Kerala Blasters v East Bengal

14 February 2022 17	Kerala Blasters	1–0	East Bengal	Vasco da Gama, Goa
19:30 IST	Sipović 49' Soraisam  60' Díaz  90'	Report	Naocha  80' Mondal  89'	Stadium: Tilak Maidan Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Aditya Purkayastha Man of the Match: Lalthathanga Khawlhring (Kerala Blasters)

Mumbai City v East Bengal

22 February 2022 18	Mumbai City	1–0	East Bengal	Margao, Goa
19:30 IST	Bipin 51'	Report		Stadium: Fatorda Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Ashwin

East Bengal v NorthEast United

28 February 2022 19	East Bengal	1–1	NorthEast United	Vasco da Gama, Goa
19:30 IST	Perošević 55'	Report	Khan  24' Sahanek 45' Diallo  58'	Stadium: Tilak Maidan Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Tejas Nagvenkar

East Bengal v Bengaluru

5 March 2022 20	East Bengal	0–1	Bengaluru	Vasco da Gama, Goa
19:30 IST	Naocha  90'	Report	Chhetri 24'	Stadium: Tilak Maidan Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Senthil Nathan Man of the Match: Lara Sharma (Bengaluru)

As of 5 March 2022

Appearances for East Bengal in 2021–22 season
No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	ISL		Total
				Apps	Starts	Apps	Starts
Goalkeepers
1	GK		Sankar Roy	5	5	5	5
25	GK		Suvam Sen	5	4	5	4
29	GK		Arindam Bhattacharya	11	11	11	11
Defenders
2	CB		Daniel Gomes	2	1	2	1
4	CB		Tomislav Mrcela[C]	9	8	9	8
5	CB		Adil Khan	14	8	14	8
12	CB		Joyner Lourenco	11	9	11	9
20	LB		Hira Mondal	16	15	16	15
30	CB		Ananta Tamang	1	1	1	1
47	CB/RB		Raju Gaikwad	12	8	12	8
50	LB		Naocha Singh	5	4	5	4
55	RB		Ankit Mukherjee	6	4	6	4
71	CB/LB		Franjo Prce	15	15	15	15
Midfielders
6	DM		Darren Sidoel	10	8	10	8
8	CM		Mohammed Rafique	16	12	16	12
10	RW		Jackichand Singh	6	0	6	0
14	CM		Wahengbam Angousana	15	9	15	9
16	LW		Songpu Singsit	1	0	1	0
18	CM		Sourav Das	18	16	18	16
21	CM		Amir Dervišević[C]	8	4	8	4
22	DM		Lalrinliana Hnamte	17	12	17	12
23	LW		Bikash Jairu	11	6	11	6
77	CM		Fran Sota	5	3	5	3
80	DM		Amarjit Singh Kiyam	16	10	16	10
Forwards
7	FW		Antonio Perošević	14	13	14	13
9	FW		Marcelo Ribeiro	6	3	6	3
11	FW		Subha Ghosh	3	1	3	1
13	FW		Naorem Mahesh Singh	18	15	18	15
15	FW		Balwant Singh	5	0	5	0
24	FW		Thongkhosiem Haokip	12	7	12	7
27	FW		Daniel Chima Chukwu[C]	10	7	10	7
43	FW		Siddhant Shirodkar	1	0	1	0
99	FW		Rahul Paswan	1	1	1	1

As of 5 March 2022^[164]

Rank	No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	ISL	Total
1	7	FW		Antonio Perosevic	4	4
2	6	DM		Darren Sidoel	3	3
3	13	FW		Naorem Mahesh Singh	2	2
	21	MF		Amir Dervisevic	2	2
	24	FW		Thongkhosiem Haokip	2	2
	27	FW		Daniel Chima Chukwu	2	2
7	4	CB		Tomislav Mrcela	1	1
	22	DM		Lalrinliana Hnamte	1	1
	71	CB/LB		Franjo Prce	1	1
Total					18	18

As of 5 March 2022^[165]

Rank	No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	ISL	Total
1	14	MF		Wahengbam Angousana	2	2
2	7	FW		Antonio Perošević	1	1
	8	MF		Mohammed Rafique	1	1
	24	FW		Thongkhosiem Haokip	1	1
	47	CB/RB		Raju Gaikwad	1	1
	77	CB/LB		Franjo Prce	1	1

As of 5 March 2022^[166]

No.	Nat.	Player	ISL	Total
25		Suvam Sen	2	2
29		Arindam Bhattacharya	1	1

As of 5 March 2022^[167][168]

No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	ISL				Remarks
5	CB		Adil Khan	1	0	0	0
6	DM		Darren Sidoel	1	0	0	0
7	FW		Antonio Perošević	2	0	0	1	Received a five-match ban for the red card against NorthEast United on 17 December 2021.[151][152] Missed the game against Hyderabad on 23 December 2021.[169] Missed the game against Bengaluru on 4 January 2022.[170] Missed the game against Mumbai City on 7 January 2022.[171] Missed the game against Jamshedpur on 11 January 2022.[172] Missed the game against Goa on 19 January 2022.[173]
13	FW		Naorem Mahesh Singh	2	0	0	0
15	FW		Balwant Singh	2	0	0	0
18	CM		Sourav Das	2	0	0	0
20	LB		Hira Mondal	4	0	0	0
22	DM		Lalrinliana Hnamte	2	0	0	0
24	FW		Thongkhosiem Haokip	1	0	0	0
29	GK		Arindam Bhattacharya	1	0	0	0
47	CB/RB		Raju Gaikwad	1	0	0	0
50	LB		Naocha Singh	2	0	0	0
55	RB		Ankit Mukherjee	2	0	0	0
80	DM		Amarjit Singh Kiyam	1	0	0	0

This is awarded weekly to the player chosen by fans voting at the Indian Super League website.^[174]

Week	Nat.	Player	Score	Opponents	Date	% Votes
Week 3		Darren Sidoel	0–1	Odisha	30 November 2021	38.3%
Week 5		Antonio Perošević	1–1	Goa	7 December 2021	49.5%
Week 13		Naorem Mahesh Singh	0–1	Goa	25 January 2022	38.5%
Week 15		Darren Sidoel	1–2	Chennaiyin	2 February 2022	57.2%

• 2021–22 in Indian football