BARASAT (WB), May 24 (PTI): Dudu Omagbemi�s brace powered East Bengal to a 2-0 win over Royal Wahingdoh as the victory took them to one point shy of the third-placed Shillong outfit in the I-League football tournament here today.
Two minutes into the first half injury time, Dudu gave East Bengal the lead to silence the irate fans, who kept hurling abuses at their coach Eelco Schattorie at the Vidyasagar Krirangan in the outskirts of city here.
Dudu slotted the ball into the far post after being nicely set up by Ranty Martins from a ball from Shylo Malsawntluanga.
The Shillong outfit missed a flurry of chances, Dudu doubled the tally in the 66th minute taking advantage of a defensive lapse to score infront of an open net as they brightened their prospect of a third place. With a game in hand � away match against Shillong Lajong FC on May 30 � East Bengal have 29 points, one point shy of Royal Wahingdoh.
There were some ugly scenes in the second half added time when East Bengal�s Malswantluanga and Densill Theobald were involved in a bust-up as both were sent off straightaway.
The day simply did not belong to Wahingdoh as they also missed a penalty when Theobald bungled from the spot in the 82nd minute and the comeback bid for the visitors was over.
This was their second successive defeat by an identical scoreline � 2-0 against Mohun Bagan.
Salgaocar FC trounce Bharat FC: At Margaon, Salgaocar FC improved their chances of avoiding relegation as Darryl Duffy and Douhou Pierre scored a brace each to propel them to an emphatic 5-1 win over Bharat FC in the I-League at Nehru Staduim here today.
Salgaocar who led 2-0 af half time scored through Duffy (3rd, 50th), Bikash Jairu (8th) and Pierre (59th, 84th). The visitors pulled one back from a penalty taken by Kris William (63rd).
The win takes Salgaocar FC to 21 points from 19 matches. while Bharat FC remain last on 18 points from 19 matches.
With The sword of relegation hanging on Sporting Clube de Goa, Shillong Lajong, Salgaocar FC, Dempo FC and Mumbai FC, the picture will be clear only in the final round on May 30, a win for either teams will see them save the drop.
Salgaocar FC made two changes bringing in debutant Umesh Harijan and Bikash Jairu in place of Brian Mascarenhas and Gilbert Oliveira. The visitors too made two changes bringing in keeper Shahinlal Meloli and Kris William in place of Arindam Bhattacharya and Manjit Singh.
Salgaocar FC, aware that they need to win their last two matches to save drop, went offensive from the start as they moved the ball with quick short passes followed by long over head passes that kept the rival defence off guard and took the lead in the 3rd minute.
