East Bengal go down 1-3 to Vasco

Siliguri:

Defending champions East Bengal's title aspirations went up in smoke as they were downed 1-3 by Vasco Sports club, Goa, in their concluding ninth National Football League exchange here today. Anthony Pereira struck twice while Fabio Sohres netted the other goal for Vasco, for whom the surprise win came a little too late, as they have already been demoted to second division. Sandip Das was the lone scorer for East Bengal, who completed their engagements with 43 points from 22 matches. East Bengal, who first needed a victory against Vasco to stay in the hunt and then hoped leaders Sporting Clube de Goa and Dempo would also suffer reverses, were nowhere near their best before 20,000 supporters at the Kanchenjunga stadium. With a host of footballers including Bhaichung Bhutia and Alvito de Cunha indisposed, East Bengal were rudderless as Vasco controlled the proceedings from the beginning and trailed 0-1 at the breather. The Goans finished their league odyssey gleaning 20 points from 22 outings. (PTI)