Edmilson after giving East Bengal the lead against Peerless on Saturday. A Telegraph picture

Calcutta: The three-week break drove the fans away. It also put the teams to sleep, almost.

The handful of die-hards who turned up at the East Bengal ground on Saturday afternoon were made to sit through 45 minutes of purposeless action before the red-and-golds sprang to life against Peerless as the CFL Premier Division entered its home stretch.

A bright 20-minute spell after the change of ends saw East Bengal pump in two, with Edmilson Marques playing a role in both.

The Brazilian scored in the 57th minute — his 12th in the league that put him on a par with Jose Ramirez Barreto atop the scorers’ list — and set up another for substitute Vimal Pariyar to help the red-and-golds pocket full points and stay in touch with leaders Mohun Bagan.

East Bengal moved to 25 points from 11 matches. Mohun Bagan, who have played a game less, have 24 points.

Peerless, who gave East Bengal a scare in the controversially abandoned game in the first phase, looked as rusty as their famed rivals. Combination play was at a premium, mis-passes aplenty.

It was only in dead-ball situations that East Bengal looked threatening. More so when Alvito D’Cunha was in charge. A free-kick from the left-footed medio saw Edmilson get a deflection that was cleared from the goalline. Anupam Sarkar had a crack off the ricochet, but missed the target.

Then an Alvito corner swerved viciously to beat a Peerless stopper and found Edmilson’s head at the far corner, but goalkeeper Gopal Das managed to divert the ball out of harm’s way injuring himself in the process.

Peerless, who didn’t get to play any warm-up matches during the prolonged break and only returned to practice after the Pujas, looked far less fluent than they were in the first phase. Subair Muritala, their foreign striker who has been a tower of strength, was a shadow of himself.

The East Bengal defence still had their moments of despair. Like in the 25th minute when a dreadful communication gap almost proved fatal.

Goalkeeper Das rolled the ball in Majek Bolaji’s direction even as the central defender was looking the other way. Babin Biswas pounced on the ball and promptly fired a shot that lacked direction.

A minute before half-time, a swift Peerless counter saw Muritala feeding Gouranga Biswas with a smart forward pass. Gouranga sped past M. Suresh and let go a right-footer which crashed into the side netting.

East Bengal got serious in the second half and looked a more organised unit. Edmilson seemed to have left his scoring boots behind when, on a quick half-turn, he ballooned the ball miles over the bar. But the Brazilian made amends 10 minutes later.

The slack Peerless defence left him unmarked and Edmilson made no mistake in heading home a Dipankar Roy cross.

Bolaji connected an Alvito corner well with his head only to see the ball cleared from the goalline. Minutes later, an Alvito pile driver was thwarted by Rakesh Prasad.

East Bengal finally got their insurance goal when Edmilson smartly diverted an Alvito free-kick square for the better-placed Pariyar to nod past a helpless goalkeeper.

TEAMS

East Bengal: Gopal Das, Gurpreet Singh (Amulya Mondal, 12), M. Bolaji, M. Suresh, Anupam Sarkar, Dipankar Roy, Jayanta Sen, Mehtab Hussain (Muhammad Mukhtar, 56), Alvito D’Cunha, Dipendu Biswas (Vimal Pariyar, 72), Edmilson Marques.

Peerless: Rakesh Prasad, Zoheb Hassan, Soumen Sarkar, Saheb Ali, Tarak Roy, Gouranga Biswas, Sanjib Ghosh (Satnam Singh, 87), James Ugwu, Prakash Koley (Kartik Kisku, 25), Babin Biswas, Subair Muritala (Debjit Bhowmick, 72).

Referee: Pradip Mukherjee.