SC East Bengal kept their mathematical chances of reaching the knockout stages alive after securing a narrow 2-1 win over Jamshedpur FC at the Fatorda Stadium on Sunday. Goals from Ville Matti Steinmann and Anthony Pilkington either side of half-time secured the three points.
The win means the Kolkata giants climbed up a spot to ninth with 16 points from as many games. They are still six points behind the team in fourth and have to win their remaining four games if they are to make the next stage of the competition. The win was crucial as the team ended a run of five games without a win.
Jamshedpur remained seventh, with 18 points from 16 games. The result will be a dampener for Owen Coyle considering they entered the contest having ended a five-game winless streak and with momentum on their side.
The Red and Gold brigade made six alterations, with new signings Subrata Paul, Sarthak Golui and Sourav Das all starting. And the team started off strongly as the first goal arrived in the sixth minute. A corner taken by Narayan Das was met by Steinmann who lost his marker and his precise header found the back of the net.
The first major chance of note for the Red Miners arrived in the second half with Nerijus Valskis hitting the post. Just when Coyle's team were looking to have the upper hand, Pilkington came up with a thunderous finish in the 68th minute. Steinmann received the ball and sprinted forward with it. He slid in a through-ball towards Pilkington, whose shot had too much power for TP Rehenesh.
It seemed the match would end comfortably in the Kolkata giant's favour but a melee inside the box saw Peter Hartley score in the 83rd minute. Jamshedpur threw the kitchen sink in the dying moments and some last ditch defending and a brilliant save from Paul ensured the three points were won by East Bengal.