East Bengal lost their third match on the trot when Kerala Blasters eked out a 2-1 win in the ISL-X match at the Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday. Carles Cuadrat’s men, who were beaten by Bengaluru FC and FC Goa last month, are now 10th in the points table with four points from five matches.

Blasters’ goalkeeper Sachin Suresh has come up as a surprise package at the back. On Saturday, he saved a penalty in his second successive game.

East Bengal’s Brazilian striker Cleiton Silva had an opportunity to make it 1-1 in the 85th minute, but Sachin saved the shot amidst celebration from teammates.

Blasters took the lead in the 32nd minute. Captain Adrian Luna spotted a disoriented opposition defence and carved it open with a crafty pass for Daisuke Sakai.

The 26-year-old immediately rushed into the box, tricked Mohamad Rakip with quick footwork and shot the ball past goalkeeper Prabhsukhan Singh Gill to hand his side the lead.

Minutes after Silva’s penalty miss, Blasters capitalised. Dimitrios Diamantakos, with little resistance from the rival defence, made it 2-0 in the 88th minute. The Greek striker was shown a red card soon afterwards.

East Bengal earned a spot-kick in the ninth minute of added time, and Silva did convert the penalty this time around.

Earlier, Bengaluru FC came from behind to draw 1-1 at Hyderabad FC.

The home side got ahead, thanks to Mohammed Yasir, in the 35th minute.