Fransa goalkeeper Kalyan Chowbey thwarts an East Bengal raid during their National League encounter at the Salt Lake Stadium on Tuesday. Picture by Santosh Ghosh

Calcutta: East Bengal let the National Football League (NFL) lead slip out of their hands as Fransa FC stunned the defending champions with a late winner in their 16th-round clash for the ONGC Cup at the Salt Lake Stadium on Tuesday.

With three minutes to go, the entire East Bengal defence stood immobile, watching Joseph Ogor come from behind to claim a ball at the flag-kick region.

When the Nigerian forward squared the ball for Hardeep Saini in the middle of the box, Debjit Ghosh was the lone man standing in the backline. But the former JCT and Mohun Bagan player wisely pushed the ball to his right, to Peter Rodrigues, whose thumping right-footer gave East Bengal goalkeeper Rajat Ghosh Dastidar no chance.

Fransa, thus, moved up to the fourth spot with 25 points at the expense of Mahindra United (24). But more importantly, Dempo SC (34) toppled East Bengal from the leaderboard on the back of a one-point lead. Sporting Clube de Goa stood third in the table with 32 points.

Chance factor ? this is a phrase East Bengal coach Subhas Bhowmick frequently utters while stressing on surviving a marathon league. On Tuesday, there were quite a few falling East Bengal?s way. But lack of finishing from Bhowmick?s forwards and two brilliant saves from Kalyan Chowbey ensured the Goan visitors had the last laugh.

The Fransa ?keeper first thwarted an intelligent lob from Ernest Jeremiah soon after the breather. Then in the 70th minute, Chowbey again rose to the occasion, staving acrobatically substitute Dipankar Roy?s attempt from inside the box.

East Bengal?s next culprit was another substitute, Bijen Singh. Bhaichung Bhutia brilliantly fed him within handshaking distance of Chowbey, but East Bengal?s No. 25 stabbed the ball straight to the custodian. Add to this Man-of-the-Match Saini?s goalline save off Chandan Das? 25-yard drive.

If all this was part of East Bengal?s push for burying the ghost of 0-5 defeat to Al Faisaly (in the AFC Cup), Fransa were equal to the task, probing and prodding the rival defence by dint of useful wing play. They sounded the warning to Bhowmick?s team in the very first minute, when Ogor headed Rodrigues? centre over the bar from close. Biju Kumar came closer in the 32nd minute, but he too was off target.

East Bengal looked tired and clearly seemed to miss the presence of a leader like Douglas da Silva in the midfield. Fransa, on the other hand, were content in possessing the ball and the 87th-minute killer blow was a just reward for them.

Teams

Fransa FC: Kalyan Chowbey; Ambalath Suliman, Sanjeev Maria, Louis Aniweta, Syed Hussain, Peter Rodrigues, Hardeep Saini, Jules Alberto, Benjamin Ansah, Biju Kumar T.V., Joseph Ogor (Sebastiao Endro 90+).

East Bengal: Rajat Ghosh Dastidar; Debjit Ghosh, Shylo Malsawmtluanga (Bijen Singh 46), Selwyn Fernandes, Habibur Rahman Mondal, Syed Rahim Nabi, Subhas Chakraborty (Ernest Chukwuma Jeremiah 26), Climax Lawrence, Chandan Das, Alvito D?Cunha (Dipankar Roy 62), Bhaichung Bhutia.

Referee: Walter Pereira (WIFA).