East Bengal scrape past Pailian Arrows

A 10-man East Bengal edged past resilient Pailian Arrows 2-1 in a 19th round I-League encounter at the Kalyani Municipal Stadium here on Saturday.

With this win, East Bengal reached the top of the standings with 39 points from 19 matches while Arrows stayed back on 19 points from 18 matches. Churchill Brothers are only a point behind East Bengal with the Goans having two matches in hand.

The red-and-gold brigade found their goals from Nigerian Edeh Chidi (5th), who converted a penalty, and Lalrindika Ralte (32nd) to rally past Arrows, who had taken the lead through Alwyn George (2nd).

The only notable incident in the second half was the ejection of substitute forward Manandeep Singh in the 75th minute, after which East Bengal endured the remaining time with 10 men and conserved the lead.

Demp hold Mumbai FC

Substitutes Peter Carvalho and Koko Sakibo scored late in the second half to help Dempo hold Mumbai FC to a 2-2 draw at the Duler stadium, Mapusa.

Mumbai FC, who scored through Evans Quao(40th) and ND Opara(67th), appeared all set to win before two late goals from Carvalho (83rd) and Sakibo(89) helped Dempo earn a point.

Dempo took their points tally to 35 from 18 matches, while Mumbai FC have 26 points from 18 matches.

Vineeth scores hat-trick

C K Vineeth pumped in three goals in the space of 11 minutes to complete a hat-trick as Prayag United SC thrashed hosts Air India 4-1 at the Balewadi Stadium, Pune
Ranty Martins opened the scoring for Prayag on the half-hour mark, while Vineet struck in the 36th, 37th and 47th minutes.

Elijah Junior pulled one back in the 72nd minute.

A brace by Francis Fernandes (2nd and 45th minutes) helped Salgaocar beat Pune FC 2-0 in another match in Pune.

Lajong pip Sikkim

Shillong Lajong FC edged past Sikkim United FC 2-1 at Shillong, widening the gap with the latter to seven points.

Linekar Machado put Sikkim United ahead in the 20th minute. But substitute PC Lalhimthara equalised in the 78th minute, while Japanese striker T Matsuke netted the winner for Lajong in the final minute.