East Bengal scrape past Churchill

Defending champions East Bengal overcame some anxious moments before scraping past a spirited Churchill Brothers by a solitary second half goal in the National Football League at the Salt Lake stadium on Wednesday.

Defender Suley Musah produced the match winner late in the second session to save the day for the glamour club in a match which seldom rose to great heights.

The home team were a pale shadow of themselves in the opening session but raised their game after the breather with a series of attacks from both the flanks before the hard-working Musah produced a brilliant goal to help his team earn full points.

Musah leaped in the air and found the target with a lovely back-header following a controlled floater from substitute medio Tushar Rakshit in the 80th minute of the contest, sending the East Bengal supporters into a frenzy.

Churchill custodian Edward Ansah charged out to foil the move but the wily Musah outjumped him and back-headed the ball towards a vacant goal much to the delight of his teammates who otherwise had a rather ordinary day on their home ground.

With this victory, East Bengal have secured ten points from five outings while Churchill Brothers have collected eight points from as many matches.

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