East Bengal rode birthday boy Cleiton Silva’s strike to get the better of Kerala Blasters in an ISL IX match at the Salt Lake Stadium on Friday.

The Brazilian, who turned 36, struck in the 77th minute as East Bengal secured their second home win this season. East Bengal finished the game with 10 men after Mobashir Rahman was sent off in the 94th minute.

The first opportunity came in the seventh minute when Adrian Luna whipped in a corner into the box and Rahul KP’s free header was saved by Kamaljit and then kept off the line by Suhair VP.

In the very next minute, Rahul had another chance. This time Dimitrios Diamantakos cut the ball across the box into his path, but the winger struck it wide.

The deadlock was finally broken in the 77th minute when Mahesh Singh sprinted down the left flank before cutting the ball back across the face of goal. The low ball picked up a deflection and a save before coming towards Silva, who poked it home.

The summit clash of ISL IX will be held on March 18.