Substitute Bijen Singh struck the all-important goal in the 75th minute to give East Bengal their first victory in the tournament.

On the other hand, it was Muktijoddha's third defeat at home in five games in the competition, which effectively ended their slim chance to qualify for the second phase.

Both teams, who drew goalless in their first meeting in Kolkata, are now level on four points with one round left.

As it was expected, the two heavyweights from either side of the border began with caution but Muktijoddha had an early edge. Buoyed by a 6,000-strong home crowd, the Reds terrorised the rival defence with Belal's long and measured throws after Hassan Al Mamun's scorching volley skimmed the upright in the second minute.

Visiting goalkeeper and captain Sangram then defied Muktijoddha from an early goal when he kept out Belal's powerful throw with his fingertips and pulled off a breathtaking save on Harry's volley on the rebound in the tenth minute. The Indian national custodian was beaten 12 minutes later by Belal's missile-like attack from the right but this time, defender Habib headed the ball out from the goalline.

Having survived the opening salvo, the Kolkata giants settled down and outplayed the opposition midfield, which featured as many as three defenders in the absence of playmaker Arman. The midfield maestro was unavailable for injury but Muktijoddha coach Shafiqul Islam Manik surprised everyone by ignoring Bidyut or Saiful in the starting line-up.

East Bengal, with dazzling runs from Nigerian striker Jeremiah, created three chances in the last ten minutes before break. However, Jeremiah placed the ball just wide at the far post while Subhash fired one straight to Bangladesh number one goalkeeper Aminul before rattling the crossbar from 15 yards.

Manik however brought in Bidyut and Saiful after halftime but they could hardly pierce the towering East Bengal backline manned by Suresh and Habibur Rahman Mondal.

Only Belal came close to scoring for the home side when he was pushed to midfield, but his header on a Saiful cross went wide in the 73rd minute.

East Bengal's moment of joy came soon after when Bijen, who came on the pitch eight minutes ago, exchanged passes with Lawrence Climax at the right flank before finding the far post with an exquisite chip over Aminul from inside the box to separate the two sides.

Climax almost made it 2-0 nine minutes from time when he raced past Aminul on a solo run but the Muktijoddha keeper recovered in time to snatch the ball.

Muktijoddha will play Jordan's Al Faysaly while East Bengal host Turkmenistan's Nebitchi FC on May 25 in the final round.

TEAMS
EAST BENGAL: Sangram, Suresh, Madhab, Habib, Sandip, Surya, Subhash (Chandan, 56th), Rahim Nabi, Tluanga (Bijen, 67th minute and Nitin 87th), Climax and Jeremiah.

MUKTIJODDHA: Aminul, Rajani, Harry, Belal, Titu, Pappu (Saiful, 67th), Iqbal (Biddyut, 54th), Ghansah, Hassan Al Mamun, Kanchan and Amin Rana (Rony, 79th).

Referee: Kadyrbek Chynybekov (Kyrgyzstan).