Kozhikode: East Bengal beat Viva Kerala 1-0 to register their first victory in the I-League here Monday.

Syed Rahim Nabi scored the all-important goal in the 11th minute.

A Subhas Singh cross from the left was met by an Abel Hammond header which landed at Nabi’s feet. The East Bengal skipper obliged pushing the ball in.

Despite dominating the match, Viva Kerala suffered as they lacked of proper finishing, wasting several easy chances before a capacity home crowd.

Conceding early goals has been the Kerala side’s bane and it continued on Monday as well. However, they regrouped and launched a series of raids on the red and gold brigade goal.

Sirajudden unleashed a 30-yarder which went just over the bar. Then Sisuapalan, Viva’s player of Indian origin, cracked a shot which missed the mark by inches.

The second half saw the home side pushing for an equaliser.

Despite the presence of young Avijit Ghosh, playing his first match under the East Bengal bar the Kerala team could do little to trouble him.

East Bengal defender Oga Opara gave a stellar performance in the match keeping the Viva forwards at bay. The Nigerian was adjudged the Man of the Match for his good work at the heart of the defence.

Mehrajuddin Wadoo tried a long ranger but Viva goalkeeper Shainlal Meloly was up to the task.

Mehrajuddin was injured in a clash with a rival player and hurt his ankle in the process.

An MRI would be conducted on the Kashmiri player Tuesday and he looks doubtful for East Bengal’s next match against Air India on Saturday.

He also complained about the ground conditions, a problem which has been voiced by visiting teams earlier also.

The win helped East Bengal move up to ninth place in the table with six points while Viva Kerala slipped to second from bottom with three points from five matches.

        (Agencies)