East Bengal rode on an Edeh Chidi first-half strike and some moments of luck to pip Pune FC 1-0 in a round three I-League fixture on Monday.
Man of the match Chidi scored the winning goal in the 28th minute from a rebound after Pune’s Srikanth Ramu failed to clear a ball and the Nigerian placed it to the right of opponent goalkeeper Shahinlal Meloly.
East Bengal now have seven points, while Pune remained with six from three matches each.
Besides Chidi’s matchwinner it was East Bengal goalkeeper Abhijit Mondal who stood tall under the bar before pulling out in the second-half after picking an injury.
In fact, the scoreline could have easily read 3-0 in favour of East Bengal at half time but two misses by Manandeep Singh and Chidi meant that the host had to remain content with just the solitary goal.
It turned out costly for Pune FC as they had missed an early goal in the 8th minute when Arata Izumi failed to capitalise on a Karma Tsewang cross.
Man of the match Chidi scored the winning goal in the 28th minute from a rebound after Pune’s Srikanth Ramu failed to clear a ball and the Nigerian placed it to the right of opponent goalkeeper Shahinlal Meloly.
East Bengal now have seven points, while Pune remained with six from three matches each.
Besides Chidi’s matchwinner it was East Bengal goalkeeper Abhijit Mondal who stood tall under the bar before pulling out in the second-half after picking an injury.
In fact, the scoreline could have easily read 3-0 in favour of East Bengal at half time but two misses by Manandeep Singh and Chidi meant that the host had to remain content with just the solitary goal.
It turned out costly for Pune FC as they had missed an early goal in the 8th minute when Arata Izumi failed to capitalise on a Karma Tsewang cross.