East Bengal registered a 2-0 win against lowly Churchill Brothers in Goa on Wednesday to jump to second place in the standings behind arch-rivals Mohun Bagan.
Both goals came in the first half of the game. Thongkhosiem Haokip put his side in the lead with a well-taken header. With seconds left for half-time, Lalrindika Ralte doubled his side’s lead with a brilliant goal.
The home side did well to hold on to possession well but hardly troubled TP Rehenesh’s goal, mostly resorting to strikes from distance.
East Bengal were deadly on the counter-attack and the home side often struggled with young Nikhil Poojary’s pace on the right flank. It was Poojary who set up the first goal with a pin-point cross to Haokip.
The second goal came from a freak attempt by Ralte. East Bengal could have won by a bigger margin if not for some lackluster finishing from striker Wedson Anselme. The Haitian missed his kick in the first half from close range in the first half and also failed to capitalise from a one-on-one chance with the keeper in the second.
Jackiechand Singh also had a chance late in the game and so did Anthony Wolfe for Churchill. East Bengal were forced into making a change after just five minutes with Anwar Ali limping off with an injury. Provisionally, East Bengal have jumped to second in the table but that will change after Bengaluru FC’s encounter against Mumbai. Churchill have lost all the three games they have played so far.
The score
Churchill Brothers 0 lost to East Bengal 2 (Thongkhosiem Haokip, Lalrindika Ralte)