Kalyani: Quess East Bengal FC registered a narrow 2-1 victory over Hero I-League newcomers TRAU FC at the Kalyani Municipality Stadium on Saturday.
Marcos Jimenez Espada gave the hosts the lead in the 17th minute, before Deepak Devrani equalised in first half stoppage time. Marti Crespi scored a dramatic 89th minute winner to seal the three points for the Red and Golds.
Quess East Bengal made just one change to their line-up, with Alejandro Menendez selecting Ronaldo Augusto Oliveira to replace the suspended Jaime Santos Colado.
TRAU FC, on the contrary, made several changes from the side that lost 0-4 to Mohun Bagan. Ugandan defender Isinde Issac was benched, with Deepak Devrani getting the nod. Nigerian forward Princewell Emeka started up front alongside Khundongbam Singh, in what seemed like a 3-5-2 formation. With the Kalyani faithful firmly behind them, East Bengal seemed to be in the driving seat in the initial minutes of the game. Their persistence to overload almost paid dividends, when in the 14th minute, TRAU goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh came off his line to clear one such delivery by Juan Mera.The deadlock was broken in the 17th minute, when Samad Ali Mallick delivered an inch perfect cross to a lurking Espada in the box, and the Spaniard made no mistake in giving East Bengal the lead.
