Cleiton Silva’s brilliant free-kick conversion in the second half injury-time helped East Bengal beat former champion Hyderabad FC 2-1 to record its first win of the ISL-10 season, at Salt Lake Stadium here on Saturday. The Brazilian forward had previously scored the equaliser almost immediately after Hyderabad found the lead through Hitesh Sharma in the eighth minute of the first half.
The opening half was all about the two goals which the opponents shared to remain locked till the interval. EBFC dominated proceedings initially but Hyderabad found the lead first off a defensive error from the host that allowed forward Joseph Knowles to cut inside and shoot. His effort took a deflection off the East Bengal midfielder Souvik Chakrabarti and reached an unmarked Hitesh, who directed the ball into the net.
The Hyderabad lead was short lived as Carles Cuadrat’s men regrouped quickly and found the equaliser through Cleiton. The chance was created after Hyderabad deference let down its guard as Spanish play-maker Borja Herrera surged into the box. Nim Dorjee Tamang managed a half-hearted tackle to see the ball rolling over to Cleiton, who just chipped over goalkeeper Laxmikant Kattimani to find the net.
East Bengal seemed to lose its way after the equaliser allowing the contest to drift into a listless essay. This was before Cleiton found the winner in the added time with a finishing that spoke a lot about his Brazilian lineage.
The result: East Bengal 2 (Cleiton Silva 10 & 90+3) bt Hyderabad 1 (Hitesh Sharma 8).
