ISL | East Bengal edges Jamshedpur by a lone goal

The hero: Dimitrios is mobbed by his teammates after scoring the winner.
| Photo Credit: DEBASISH BHADURI

East Bengal FC posted consecutive wins at home for the first time in the Indian Super League when it downed Jamshedpur FC by a solitary goal in a 12th round action of the tournament’s 11th edition, at the Salt Lake Stadium, here on Saturday.

Greek striker Dimitrios Diamantakos found the only goal of the match at the hour mark to secure the full quota of points. East Bengal, which downed Punjab FC 4-2 in the previous match, climbed to 10th in the 13-team league standings with 13 points from 12 matches while Jamshedpur FC remains in seventh with 18 from 11.

Excitement

The opening session produced some excitement towards the end when East Bengal discovered its rhythm and made some good incursions. The host almost got a goal in the 27th minute when Cleiton Silva set up Nandhakumar Sekar unmarked inside the box. The East Bengal winger hesitated for a moment allowing the Jamshedpur goalkeeper Albino Gomes to close in for a save.

East Bengal played some nice one-touch passes around the Jamshedpur box but the home side’s finishing remained tardy allowing the scoreline to stay unchanged at the break.

With Jamshedpur playing defensive apparently looking to steal a point, East Bengal utilised the lack of resolve in the opposition ranks to find the break early after break.

Nandhakumar set up the opportunity whipping in a sharp cross that the young P.V. Vishnu failed to flick home. However, Diamantakos followed the ball from the far end to slot it home.

The result: East Bengal 1 (Dimitrios Diamantakos 60) bt Jamshedpur FC 0.