Silchar: East Bengal scored a crucial 1-0 victory against Salgaocar SC in the second Group A match of the ongoing Federation Cup in Silchar to go top of the group. Yusif Yakubu scored the all-important goal in the 26th minute.

The Ghanaian striker scored the goal when he latched onto a Sanju Pradhan delivery from the left and volleyed it home.

Earlier, JCT tried every trick in the book but could not breach the Viva Kerala defence and crashed out of the tournament after a goalless draw here.

Desperately needing a win to stay afloat in the race for a berth in the semi-finals, JCT did everything they could but Viva Kerala walked out with a draw, their second successive, to keep alive their hopes for a last four place.

Not that JCT did not get their chances in the Group A outing.

One such opportunity came Daljit Singh’s way early in the match but the JCT player shot wide.

For the Kerala side, Shibin Lal was equally off-target after receiving a Karma corner inside the box.

JCT nearly scored in the 20th minute when Balwant Singh played a one-two with Henry and unleashed a powerful shot which was blocked by Viva Kerala custodian EC Sharath and Baldeep Singh's effort on the rebound ricocheted off the crossbar.

On another occasion, Balwant’s header off a Harish Sharma free kick missed the mark by a whisker.