Calcutta/ Aizawl: Ranty Martins struck a hat-trick as East Bengal made a late rally from a two-goal deficit to beat a nine-man Aizawl FC 3-2 in an I-League match at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, on Saturday.
Brandon Valpuia (19th minute) and Yuta Kinowaki (58th) scored for the home side before Ranty struck in the 69th, 85th and 88th minutes to secure three vital points for East Bengal.
Aizawl FC were undone by a direct red card shown to their key defender Emmanuel Chigozie in the 67th minute, and East Bengal, trailing 0-2 then, made the most of the numerical advantage and pumped in three goals.
East Bengal started the match by testing Aizawl goalkeeper Soram Poirei with two shots within the first two minutes. There were a lot of half chances created by both the teams in the opening few minutes but no considerable damage was done.
Egged on by the partisan crowd, Aizawl began to dominate and they were the far better side in the first half.
Valpuia broke the deadlock in the 19th minute using an assist from Japanese midfielder Yuta Kinowaki who sent a curling ball from the right. Alfred Jaryan went past his marker to feed the ball towards winger Valpuia who made no mistake beating East Bengal goalkeeper Luis Barreto with a right footer from the left corner of the box.
A minute before the break, Brandon had an opportunity to double the lead for Aizawl but Barreto came calling with an important save.
Aizawl scored their second goal two minutes before the hour mark. Lalram Chullova released Kinowaki inside the six-yard box as Bernard Mendy failed to get onto the end of the ball. Kinowaki lobbed the ball past a hapless Barreto.
With a 2-0 lead, it looked like a huge upset win was on the cards but the match turned on its head in a dramatic fashion after Emmanuel was shown a direct red for bringing down compatriot Ranty inside the box. The ensuing spot-kick was converted by Ranty who sent Poirei the wrong way.
East Bengal took the advantage of numerical superiority to the hilt. Calvin Lobo, who replaced Mehtab Hossain in the first half, and Harmanjot Khabra appeared more confident in creating chances for their teammates upfront as the visitors found a new purpose. Five minutes from regulation time, Ranty restored parity. Bikash Jairu's darting run from the left followed a superb cross into the box where Ranty guided the ball into the net with a powerful header.
Two minutes later, East Bengal found the winner through the Nigerian yet again from a Mohammed Rafique assist.
Right on the 90-minute mark, Aizawl's Lalram Chullova was given marching orders for a second booking, compiling on the agony of the home side who were reduced to nine men. With Saturday's triple strike, Ranty went atop the scoring charts with 11 goals.
East Bengal now have 20 points from 11 matches, two points adrift of leaders and arch-rivals Mohun Bagan as well as Bengaluru FC.
As for Aizawl, it was another inspiring performance but a lack of experience hurt them yet again. With two weeks of the international break to follow, both sides have ample time to regroup and focus on season goes to the business end.
In Vasco, Salgaocar FC beat Lajong FC 1-0. Gilbert Oliveira (31st minute) scored the only goal of the game as the hosts added three more points to their recent resurgence.
The hosts took the lead in the 31st minute as Konsham headed away Brian Mascarenhas' corner-kick but only as far as Oliveira. The Salgaocar midfielder took the shot on the bounce from 20 yards out and found the back of the net.
