East Bengal beat Sporting Clube de Goa 4-3 in a closely fought encounter to win the opening tie of Phase II in the 10th National Football League in Kolkata on Saturday.
The home team shot into the lead at the fag end of the first half when Ndem put the ball into Gauranga Dutta's path, who worked his way past two defenders and sent a low cross that star striker Bhaichung Bhutia headed home.
The Goan outfit's equaliser came via Harinder Singh Saini, whose 35 yard left-footer went into the top left corner of the net with East Bengal custodian Rajat Ghosh Dastidar rooted to the spot.
The away side shot into lead in the 54th minute when Bebiano Fernandez sent an inch-perfect cross to Edeh Chiddi, whose angled volley found the mark.
An hour into the game, Anupam Sarkar sent a long cross that Rahim Nabi headed for Bhaichung. The national captain shrugged off his markers and unleashed a volley to restore parity for the home team.
Five minutes later, Shasty Duley sent a measured cross for Rahim Nabi whose drop header put East Bengal 3-2 ahead.
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Sporting restored parity in the 85th minute when Edeh backpassed for Bebianio Fernandez to slot home.
The very next minute, off the counter-attack, Okoro set-up Bhaichung inside the penalty box. Vincent Pires slipped in his bid to clear and Bhaichung flicked the ball home.
After the high-scoring encounter, Bhaichung went to the top of the NFL goal-scoring chart with six goals.
The match began on a spirited note with both teams testing each other with end-to-end runs.
East Bengal got their first opportunity in the 12th minute when an Ndem shot missed narrowly. Sporting countered through Dudu who brought the best out of Rajat.
After the home team went ahead, Chiddi almost restored parity as his grounder hit the upright before going out of play.
In the second half, East Bengal went into overdrive in the initial minutes before the visitors established their supremacy as time wore on.
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