East Bengal Club overcame a spirited challenge from HAL Bangalore to defeat them 2-0 in a Round 16 I-League encounter played at the Saltlake Stadium, Kolkata on Saturday.

Both the teams started on an aggressive note. But the hosts found it increasingly difficult to get past the visitors defence in the first half.

It was HAL who stole the show in the first half and came very close to take an early lead in 20th minute. R.C. Prakash brilliantly took a volley on goal, but on alert East Bengal goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh punched the ball away to keep the score goalless at half-time.

East Bengal came out of the lemonbreak with a different gameplan. Their persistent efforts finally gave them the lead, when a perfect cross from Sanju Pradhan found Saumik Dey. Dey slotted the ball home to give his team a 1-0 lead in the 65th minute.

Penn Orgi found the back of the net in the 89th minute to seal the victory for the Kolkata giants against HAL, while the visitors suffered their 13th defeat of the season.

With this win East Bengal now have 33 points from 16 matches, while HAL stays at 3 points from 16 outings.

East Bengal star Sanju Pradhan was adjudged “Man of the Match”.

(Edited AIFF Press Release)