Surkumar Singh (second from right) celebrates his goal with teammates at the Barasat stadium on Friday. A Telegraph picture

Calcutta: East Bengal kicked off their second I-League campaign in style, hammering United SC 3-1 at the Barasat stadium on Friday.

Playing the first competitive match under new coach Stanley Rozario, the red-and-gold brigade looked a different side from the one that played the recently concluded Sahara Calcutta Football League. Starting with six national team players and three accomplished foreigners, East Bengal showed slick movement and energy both on and off the ball.

The forwards — Edmilson Marquez and Sunil Chhetri — interchanged positions and were ably supported by Yusif Yakubu, playing from a withdrawn position.

Yakubu’s shot in the opening minute was cleared off the line by United SC’s Dhanarajan, but Subrata Bhattacharjee’s men could not prevent Surkumar from scoring in the 10th minute. The marauding right back’s shot from the right edge of the penalty box found its way past goalkeeper Arindam Ghosh’s near post.

The Manipuri right back was a real live wire, galloping down the flanks and affecting quick exchanges with Edmilson and Sunil Chhetri.

Yakubu, making his debut, got his team’s second for the evening, finishing off a smart move which he started himself. In the 19th minute, the Nigerian released Rennedy Singh down the left touch line and raced into the box in time to head home the cross.

Sunil Chhetri, who didn’t look particularly lethal in the CFL, got off the mark, taking advantage of a hapless United SC defence. Edmilson’s ball from the centre circle saw a weak attempted clearance from Arnab Mondal’s head. Sunil, lurking in the defender’s shadow, latched on to the loose ball and placed it calmly over Arindam’s outstretched hand.

United SC never looked like getting back into the game and Rozario’s side was cruising, keeping possession at will. Apart from one early effort, East Bengal custodian Subrata Paul was untested in the first 45 minutes.

The second half saw a reversal of sorts with United SC going on the offensive and East Bengal content on holding their defensive shape. Subrata’s boys dominated possession and troubled the East Bengal defence at every opportunity.

The young side, to their credit, got a goal back in the 34th minute of the second half through Sankar Oraon’s left-footed effort from a throw in. Oraon’s runs down the gaps left by the East Bengal back four was impressive.

Thanks to the two-goal cushion, East Bengal had no further problems in finishing the match. The good start that Rozario had hoped for was executed professionally by playing a thorough team game.

TEAMS

East Bengal: Nirmal Chhetri, Suley Musah, Rennedy Singh (Mehtab Hossain 58’), Sunil Chhetri (Parveen Kumar 92’), Yusif Yakubu, Syed Rahim Nabi, Subrata Paul, Mehrajuddin Wadoo, Surkumar Singh, Saumik Dey, Edmilsobn Marquez (Ashim Biswas 85’)

United SC: Arindam Ghosh, Kingshuk Debnath, Sasthi Duley (Subhashish Roy Chowdhury 12’), Dhanarajan R., Ayan Chowdhury, Snehashish Chakraborty, Dulal Biswas (Sukhen Dey 81’), Arnab Mondal, Sankar Oraon, Lal Malswama Hamar (Hardeep Singh 50’), Gouranga Dutta

Referee: S. Suresh

Man of the Match: Sunil Chhetri