Kolkata: East Bengal returned to winning ways in an emphatic fashion, thrashing minnows Pailan Arrows 4-1 in their return leg I-League fixture at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan here on Tuesday.
After Penn Orji had opened the scoring for East Bengal in the 27th minute, Tolgay Ozbey struck twice in the 30th and 76th minutes, while another was scored by Robert Lalthlamuana.
The consolation goal for the Arrows was scored by stopper-back Prathamesh Maulingkar in 60th minute.
With this win East Bengal moved to 30 points from 15 matches eyeing the pole position in the standings, while the AIFF developmental outfit remained low with seven from 14 outings.
Desperate for a win to keep their title aspirations alive, East Bengal began on an aggressive note and Penn almost gave them a second minute lead from a corner but the Nigerian’s shot went over the crosspiece.
The first goal resulted from a Sanju Pradhan shot which was saved by rival goalkeeper Naveen Kumar but Penn was lurking from behind as he headed it in from the rebound. (PTI)