ISL 2020-21: East Bengal's Anthony Pilkington names Luis Suarez most formidable opponent

Republic of Ireland winger Anthony Pilkington is one of Robbie Flower's SC East Bengal's foreign recruits for the upcoming season of the ISL. Anthony Pilkington comes in with considerable experience, having played 75 matches in the Premier League for Norwich City, netting 14 times. Speaking in an interview ahead of the season, Pilkington opened up on the most formidable opponent he has faced in his long career. 

Pilkington recalls goal against Manchester United in 2012-13 

Speaking to media outlet Goal, the SC East Bengal signing spoke about his most memorable goal. “There have been a few memorable matches in my career. Obviously, I have played against a lot of top teams back home. But the most memorable match has to be when Norwich City beat Manchester United before they went on to win the league. They had all the superstars playing like Paul Scholes, Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney and yet we beat them 1-0. I’ll definitely say that was memorable." 

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Anthony Pilkington scored the only goal of the game in the 60th minute of the match, converting from Javier Garrido’s cross through the top corner. He recalled that he wasn't really known for his headers so he just closed his eyes and placed it into the top corner. "Obviously scoring a goal against the eventual champions, a team as big as Manchester United worldwide, it was a really proud moment for me and my family.” 

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Pilkington names his most formidable opponent

While on international duty for Northern Ireland, Pilkington had the opportunity to go up against Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic but Pilkington decided to go name Luis Suarez as the best ever player he has played against. The Uruguayan striker was an absolute nightmare for Norwich City between 2012 and 2014. Luis Suarez scored three hat-tricks against the Canaries during his Premier League stint.

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“The best player I played against in actual terms of how he played against us on the pitch every time we played them, I will probably say is Luis Suarez,” said Pilkington. “He was unbelievable. He scored three hat-tricks in three games against us. He was brilliant.”

He further recalled the time he went up against Cristiano Ronaldo but stuck with his decision to name Suarez as the most troublesome forward to go up against.  

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Image credits: Pilkington Twitter, Suarez Instagram