By IANS
Kolkata : East Bengal beat George Telegraph 1-0 in a Calcutta Premier League match here Wednesday.
Asim Biswas scored the match-winner in the eighth minute from a Dipankar Roy freekick cashing in on a goal-mouth melee.
Biswas rose above his marker Eric Mputu to head home from the melee, ensuring a win for East Bengal who earned 15 points from six matches almost caught up with arch-rivals Mohun Bagan at just one point less.
Having conceded four goals against Bagan in the last match, it was not easy for the red-and-golds to regroup straightaway. Deplorable ground conditions made their task all the more difficult.
Still the players, led by Man-of-the-Match Jayanta Sen, showed stomach for the fight. They could have won by a bigger margin. But Edmilson Marques and Biswas missed a couple of sitters, making the match look closer than it was.
In a match that never rose to any great heights, good moves were few.
George were very subdued to start with. They tried to force the pace only after their Nigerian striker Nuruddin Salu came into the field. Still, they hardly posed any threat to the opposition defence.
East Bengal, on the other hand, took it casually after the early goal. Poor officiating made the matter worse. Referee Dhanapati Roy was never close to the ball and some of his decisions were confusing, including a few controversial ones.