East Bengal brought together a fine performance to beat Kerala Blasters FC by a solitary goal and pick up its second home win in the Indian Super League at the Salt Lake Stadium on Friday.
Cleiton Silva scored his 10th goal of the tournament to help East Bengal pick up its second win at home after four successive losses. The result was a setback for Kerala Blasters, which was hoping to consolidate its position in the top half of the standings. East Bengal tallied 15 points from 16 matches to remain in ninth place, while Kerala Blasters stayed in third place with 28 points from 16 matches.
The opening half saw East Bengal making a few good openings but failed to capitalise on the chances owing mainly to the sluggishness of its own attackers. Cleiton Silva supported by debutant Jake Jarvis probed the opposition territory in regular intervals but the goal failed to materialise as Blasters’ defence somehow managed to keep the host attacks at bay.
Despite being the away team, Kerala Blasters started on an aggressive note but failed to trouble East Bengal goalkeeper Kamaljit Singh. The attacking pair of Bryce Miranda and Adrian Luna did try to find the right offensive combination but faltered in the attacking third. Cleiton Silva, who was denied by Blasters’ goalkeeper Karanjit Singh towards the end of the first half, found his form in the 77th minute to score the winner.
