Bhaichung Bhutia is congratulated by Bijen Singh after his first goal versus Salgaocar at the Salt Lake Stadium on Sunday. Picture bySantosh Ghosh

Calcutta: Savio Madiera was wary of the dazzling East Bengal trio — and it was proved beyond doubt on Sunday that his fears were not misplaced.

Salgaocar had no answer to the brilliance of Bhaichung Bhutia, Mike Okoro and Cristiano Junior — getting thrashed 1-3 in their first return-leg match of the National Football League at Salt Lake Stadium.

Bhutia was at his opportunistic best, scoring two, while Subhas Chakraborty put the icing on the cake. Bello Rassaq scored the consolation goal for the Goa side.

The win took East Bengal to the top of the table with 24 points from 12 games following Dempo’s draw in Margao. Salgaocar stay on 17. This victory ended East Bengal’s three-match losing streak against Salgaocar.

The city giants were without some of their stars, but as always, the strong reserve bench saw them through. Sunday too, Mahesh Gawli fitted in beautifully to the role of defensive screen, thus blunting most of the Salgaocar moves.

Also, Felix Ibrebu, their star striker, got involved in a scuffle with Dipak Mondal in the seventh minute itself and the duo was red-carded. East Bengal managed to cover Mondal’s absence, but Ibrebu was too big a loss for the Goa side. They lacked the penetration in attack and once they conceded the second goal, it was a battle uphill for them.

To add to Salgaocar’s woes, Rassaq was sent off in the 70th minute for hitting Bhutia on his forehead. The red-and-gold brigade had Junior and Okoro operating from a little deep. Bhutia played as the single striker, but East Bengal excelled in the way they increased men in attack. More often than not, they were numerically superior in the penetrative zone, making life difficult for the Goa side.

East Bengal took the lead in the fifth minute itself, courtesy, a horrible fumble by Rajat Ghosh Dastidar. Okoro’s powerful right-footer popped out of Ghosh Dastidar’s hands and Bhutia had the presence of mind to follow the ball and tap in. Salgaocar were lucky not to concede another, but they slowly started to make their presence felt.

After failing to get in through the space created by Mondal’s ‘absence’ in the defence, they started to stretch the game through the wings.

Dharamjit Singh was quite a livewire, shuffling his position and sending in floaters. In fact, it was a Dharamjit centre from the right that resulted in the equaliser in the 40th minute. He curled the ball in and Rassaq sneaked in behind the defenders to head in.

They could have conceded another three minutes later when Dharamjit’s cross from the left found Jules Aliba in the clear, but the Chad player missed an open net.

East Bengal reclaimed the lead in the 45th minute itself, Junior being the supplier. His through caught the Salgaocar defence in one line and Bhutia was prompt enough to put the ball in over an onrushing Ghosh Dastidar’s head.

East Bengal cut off the Salgaocar supply-line to great effect in the second half, and their defence was hardly tested. Okoro and Junior combined excellently in the middle-third and the steady flow of attacks always put the rival defence on the tenterhooks.

Okoro’s touch-play and the utilisation of free-zone lit up the afternoon — and the third goal was always coming. Chakraborty got a pass from the Nigerian just outside the box and his right-footer took a wicked deflection to beat the rival ’keeper on the far post.

Douglas da Silva came in as a substitute in the 85th minute of the second session, to the applause of the 40,000 odd who had gathered at the stadium. He returned to action after more than two months, following an injury in his right knee.

Bhutia, who had three stiches on his forehead following his scuffle with Rassaq, said after the match that it is the team effort which is taking East Bengal through. “We’re really playing as a team. I hope this continues,” Bhutia said.

The dope tests that the AIFF has initiated for the NFL is a step in the right direction, feels the Indian captain. “People shouldn’t get away with cheating…It’s for the betterment of the game,” he said.

Incidentally, Gurjinder Singh of Salgaocar and M. Suresh of East Bengal were called for dope tests on Sunday after the match.

TEAMS

East Bengal: Sangram Mukherjee, Dipak Mondal, M. Suresh, Sur Kumar Singh, S. Malswamtluanga (Chandan Das, 81), Subhas Chakraborty, Mike Okoro, Mahesh Gawli, Bijen Singh, Bhaichung Bhutia (Douglas da Silva, 85), Cristiano Junior

Salgaocar: Rajat Ghosh Dastidar, Prashant Jaggi, Bello Rassaq, Roberto Fernandes, Gurjinder Singh (Bernard Pires, 62), Ragui Singh (Samson Singh, 76), Jatin Singh Bisht, Climax Lawrence, Dharamjit Singh, Felix Ibrebu, Jules Aliba (Fredy Mascrenhas, 67)

Referee: Saji Kurian

Eduardo returns

Mohun Bagan’s Brazilian striker Eduardo returned to the city for the second phase of the NFL after being treated by the physio of the Brazilian national team, Perucho. Eduardo was suffering from a right hamstring injury. “Perucho is a childhood friend and treated me for free,” Eduardo claimed.