East Bengal started their campaign in the 133rd Durand Cup, with a comfortable 3-1 victory over the Indian Air Force Football Team (IAFFT) in a Group A encounter played at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (VYBK) here on Monday.

The Airmen took the lead against the run of play in the 19th minute through Somananda Singh, but goals from David Lalhlansanga, Dimitrios Diamantakos and Saul Crespo, gave a comfortable victory to last year’s runners-up, as they went on top of the group standings over their arch-rivals Mohun Bagan Super Giant.

East Bengal FC Head Coach Carles Cuadrat named a strong starting eleven with new signings Madih Talal, Jeakson Singh, David Lalhlansanga and Mark Zothanpuia making their debut for the Kolkata giants along with star names like Naorem Mahesh Singh, Hijazi Maher and Saul Crespo. Indian Air Force Head Coach Priya Darshan fielded a young starting lineup with the experienced duo of Arashpreet Singh and Vivek Kumar on the bench.

David Lalhlansanga came close to giving the hosts the lead from a Mahesh free kick, but his glancing header hit the woodwork and went out. The top scorer from last year came close to scoring again in the sixth minute, as he found himself in a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper, but Shubajit Basu did well to thwart the attack and keep the scores level.

The first quarter of the match was played inside the Air Force half, with East Bengal pushing to take the lead, but the Air Force defence stood its ground to keep Carles Cuadrat’s men at bay.

Against the run of play, the IAF took the lead in the 19th minute, leaving the East Bengal supporters stunned. The East Bengal defence which did not have much to do until that point was caught napping as Saurav Sadhukhan’s cross from the right wing was met by Somananda Singh and the striker’s powerful header beat Prabhsukhan Singh Gill for the first goal of the game.

The Airmen then went into defensive mode, making it difficult for East Bengal to penetrate and create clear-cut openings, which was evident from the number of attempts the Kolkata side took in the first half, 15 in total.

The equaliser came in the 43rd minute as Madih Talal found David Lalhlansanga through a great chipped ball to put the forward through on goal and the Mizo striker fended off a challenge from the defender and chipped the Air Force goalkeeper to score the first goal for his new club.

Second-half substitutions changed the dimension of the game for East Bengal.

Carles Cuadrat brought in Greek forward Dimitrios Diamantakos and Vishnu P.V, in place of David Lalhlansanga and Naorem Mahesh Singh. The move brought the needed dividends for the Spaniard tactician as his team increased the pace of the game and were looking dangerous with every move. They took the lead in the 61st minute as Diamantakos planted a strong header past the Indian Air Force goalkeeper from a beautiful cross from left-back Mark Zothanpuia, released by the ever-present Madih Talal.

East Bengal widened the gap with their opponents, scoring the third goal after seven minutes. Diamantakos was found by Sourav on top of the pass who found Saul Crespo with a square pass. The Spanish midfielder took a brilliant first touch to spin away from his marker and nailed a right-footer on the turn past Subhajit.

East Bengal saw off the rest of the match with ease, not without missing a couple more chances in the dying minutes of the game.