Calcutta: Gokulam Kerala FC continued with their sublime revival saga in the I-League.

The Kerala outfit followed up their excellent result against Mohun Bagan with an identical 2-1 win over East Bengal in Kozhikode on Saturday.

Katsumi Yusa (45+5) had given the visitors the lead before Kivi Zhimomi equalised for the hosts six minutes into the second half. East Bengal defender Salam Ranjan Singh's own goal in the 88th minute gave Kerala FC three vital points.

The loss prevented Khalid Jamil's men from overtaking Minerva Punjab in the league table and leaves them in the third spot, three points behind second place and five behind the leaders Neroca FC.

The failure to collect three points could prove costly for East Bengal in the title race as Khalid admitted as much in the post-match press conference.

"We lost vital points. Lack of concentration hurt us in the second half," he stated. Khalid credited the opposition for their display saying, "Gokulam played well and worked very hard. They played as a team. They deserved the victory."

The visitors came all guns blazing in their quest for three points. Dudu Omagbemi and Katsumi were trying hard to choke Gokulam Kerala FC defence but they stood tall between the East Bengal attackers and the target.

Al Amna nutmegged three defenders and unleashed a juicy delivery to Samad Ali Mullick but he failed to make the best out of it in the fourth minute.

Bino George had to go for an early change as Alajmi got himself injured in the 35th minute and eventually, the Bahrainian midfielder got substituted by Arjun Jayaraj, who played a significant role in netting their second goal.

Emmanuel Chigozie invited a spot-kick in the added minutes of the first half when he brought down Cavin Lobo inside the box.

Katsumi had little problem perplexing Bilal Khan to send the travelling fans into a rapture.

It was a completely changed Kerala outfit after the changeover as their attackers started pushing East Bengal defenders harder and eventually Zhimonu found the back of the net in the 51st minute.

Henry sidefooted a ball which came into Kivi's way and the striker unleashed a powerful shot which rattled the back of the net to cancel the visitors' lead. Henry could have netted a brace had the woodwork not betrayed him twice.

Seven minutes later, the striker's fate betrayed him once again when he hit the crossbar from a powerful header off a Mohammed Irshad cross.

Henry played a crucial role setting up their second goal when he passed it onto an onrushing Arjun Jayaraj who was left unmarked by the East Bengal defenders.

The first half substitute passed a low delivery which was netted wrongfully by Salam Ranjan to increase Khalid Jamil's troubles.

There was drama in the dying minutes as Irshad was shown a straight red for his off-the-ball fracas with Ansumana Kromah while Arnab Mondal was given his marching orders for a second yellow as both sides finished the game with 10 men.

Khalid later explained why he withdrew Katsumi in the second half. "I replaced Katsumi because we scored a goal and decided to tighten the defence," Khalid remarked.

Meanwhile, the battle between the two relegation-threatened team was convincingly won by Chennai City FC as they beat Churchill Brothers 3-1 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Coimbatore on Saturday.

Aleksandar Rakic (26th) opened the scoring for the home side followed by a brace by Michael Soosairaj (29th, 54th) while Osagie Monday (90+3) scored the consolation goal for Churchill late in the injury time.

Chennai City made their intentions own right from the start as Rakic blasted a shot over the cross bar.