Eduardo Bedia Pelaez found the net from an injury-time free-kick to help FC Goa beat host East Bengal 2-1 and start its Indian Super League (ISL) 9 campaign on a winning note, at the Salt Lake Stadium here on Wednesday.
Brandon Fernandes gave Goa the lead in the first half before Cleiton Silva equalised for East Bengal from a penalty midway through the second half. Bedia turned the game in favour of Goa with a nice dipping shot from a long range free-kick in the last minute of the added time.
Goa took control of the proceedings early and got the goal in the seventh minute off a fine build-up from the left. The attack started with Aibanbha Dohling, who essayed a through pass for Alvaro Vazquez.
The Spanish forward took a few paces up to release a cross that found an onrushing Brandon. The Goa midfielder cleared the East Bengal centre-back Ivan Gonzalez with a fine touch and slotted the ball home past a hapless Kamaljit Singh in the East Bengal goal.
Goa had another chance to double the lead in the 20th minute but Redeem Tlang failed to find the target from close on getting a cross from Brandon. Unable to strike the desired cohesion East Bengal struggled for most of the first half and was lucky enough to restrict Goa to a lone goal lead at the break.
East Bengal made two changes at the break, bringing in Sarthak Golui and Naorem Mahesh Singh for Sumeet Passi and Tuhin Das.
It earned the penalty in the 63rd when its forward V.P. Suhair was brought down by the Goa goalkeeper Dheeraj Singh, who ended up body checking the former as he got clear into the Goa box receiving a cross from Jerry Lalrinzuala. Cleiton converted it into an equaliser in the next minute.
As the match appeared to be headed for a draw, Bedia's nice free-kick conversion in the injury-time became decisive in the end.
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