Calcutta: Coach Manoranjan Bhattacharjee heaved a sigh of relief as East Bengal bagged full points in their Round XV ONGC I-League match against Mahindra United at the Salt Lake Stadium on Sunday. Syed Rahim Nabi scored the all-important goal.

In a change of strategy, Bhattacharjee pushed Nabi upfront and the 22-year-old striker scored in the fifth minute to stun the Mumbai outfit.

Receiving an Alvito D’Cunha through from the middle Man of the Match Nabi, who was standing outside the box, lobbed it over an advancing Mahindra custodian Subhasish Roy Chowdhury into the far corner of the net.

With Nabi and Alvito upfront, a spirited red-and-golden brigade made a lively start pushing the Mumbai team on the backfoot. They were aggressive with good co-ordination in the midfield and defence.

Surprisingly, East Bengal switched into a defensive mode after the goal, and Mahindra United grabbed the opportunity. An inept forwardline, however, failed to convert the chances that came their way.

East Bengal custodian Subrata Paul once again hogged the limelight, denying Mahindra the equaliser with some brilliant saves.

An elated Nabi said: “I am happy that my goal has fetched my club the most wanted win. I feel that if we continue playing the same way we can avoid relegation.”

Sunday’s win helped East Bengal climb up to the seventh spot with 15 points while Mahindra remained on 21 points.

TEAMS

East Bengal: Subrata Paul, M.J. Owino, Debarata Roy, Jayanta Sen (Vanlal Rova 76’) , Alvito D’ Cunha (Vimal Pariyar 62’), Anupam Sarkar, Syed Rahim Nabi, Mehtab Hossain, Mehrajuddin Wadoo, Surkumar Singh, Snehasish Chakraborty.

Mahindra United: Subhasish Roy Chowdhury, N.P. Pradeep, Sushanth Mathew, Andrews M. Pomeyie, Surajit Bose (Thoi Singh 53’), Sunil Kumar, Sukhwinder Singh (Noel Fernandes 82’), Steven Dias, Sushil Kumar Singh (Mohammed Rafi 60’), Dohousey D. Pierre, Bello Rasaq.

Referee: Dinesh Nair.

Man of the Match: Syed Rahim Nabi.