SC East Bengal avoid late scare against Jamshedpur to grab full points

Margao: Embattled SC East Bengal tasted victory for the first time in almost a month with a 2-1 win over Jamshedpur FC in an Indian Super League (ISL) match here on Sunday.

While the Kolkata-based side jumped to ninth on the table with 16 points, Jamshedpur FC's hopes of making the ISL playoffs were dealt with another blow, leaving them at seventh, four points behind the playoff places.

Goals from Matti Steinmann (6th) and Anthony Pilkington (68th) secured the victory for SCEB. A late goal from Peter Hartley (83rd) proved to be a mere consolation for Jamshedpur.

East Bengal got off to the best start possible with Steinmann putting them ahead in the sixth minute. An early SCEB attack ended with Stephen Eze putting the ball out for a corner.

The resultant corner from Narayan Das eluded the entire Jamshedpur defence and was glanced in by Steinmann. Any hopes Jamshedpur had of extending their run of three straight clean sheets had come to an early end.

Owen Coyle's men had scored just one goal from open play in their previous four encounters. Whatever moves that their midfielders were able to string together ended abruptly in the final third with Jamshedpur's attackers able to get into good positions.

With SCEB dominating possession and defending well, Jamshedpur finished the half with zero shots on target. Nerijus Valskis, in particular, cut a frustrated figure often dropping down into midfield in search of the ball.

The Kolkata side started the second half as they had the first, with a freekick in a dangerous area. Steinmann again lost his marker and got into a good position but missed the ball by a whisker. The next big chance fell to Narayan, who was played in on the left flank.