A stunning late first half strike by Mohammed Rafique propelled city soccer giants East Bengal to a 1-0 win over one-man-short Gokulam Kerala FC and a slot atop the I-League ladder here on Wednesday.
Rafique found the mark in the 44th minute with a rasping shot from outside the rival penalty box following a Mahmoud Al-Amnas corner, thereby sealing the fate of the enterprising visiting team at the Vivekananda Yuva Bharati Krirangan.
Having earned their fourth back-to-back win, the red and gold brigade are now on par with leaders Minerva Punjab FC with 13 points from six outings. However, a better goal difference ensured the pride of place for East Bengal after Minerva Punjab FC went down 1-2 to Aizawl FC 2-1 earlier in the day.
Gokulam, who played the major part of the second session with ten men after Rohit Mirza was red carded following a dangerous challenge, started off well. They created a number of scoring opportunities in the early minutes, but in the end paid for their inexperience to stagnate in the eighth place with four points from five games.
The Calicut-based side had an early setback as their midfield general Khaled Alsaleh had to be taken off in the 10th minute owing to an injury. However, it was the hosts who had the first sniff on the goal.
A corner from East Bengal's Japanese star Katsumi Yusa was punched out by Gokulam goalkeeper Bilal Khan in the 14th minute. Rafique's audacious chip off the rebound almost found the net but the custodian did well to leap back and parry the ball out.
East Bengal could have gone up in the 17th minute, but Cameroonian Francis Ambane was thwarted by the woodwork. A little later, he unleashed a swerving shot from the edge of the box, but that only found the side netting.
Gokulam striker Stephane Kamo Bayi also had a chance from the edge of the box as he rounded up Eduardo Ferreira but his shot was off target.
However, it were the hosts who broke the deadlock a minute before the halftime whistle. Santu Singh conceded a corner kick that East Bengal's midfield star Al Amna sent in. Vicky Meitei cleared it for Gokulam but Rafique who was just outside the box chested the ball down and hit home from the bounce.
The Kerala outfit were reduced to ten men in the 54th minute when Mirza was given the marching orders by the referee for a horrific and ugly challange on Katsumi Yusa, who sustained a knee injury and had to be replaced soon after.
The incident demoralised Gokulam, and East Bengal snatched the offensive to launch repeated assaults on the rival rearguard. Charles d'Souza muffed up a sitter by shooting straight to custodian Bilal Khan in the 56th minute, before Eduardo's free kick went past the crossbar.
--IANS
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