East Bengal started their campaign in the I-League on a confident note defeating Viva Kerala by a brace at the floodlit Barasat stadium on Sunday night.
After a barren first half, East Bengal struck through Brazilian striker Edmilson and crafty midfielder Alvito D' Cunha.
The match started in dull fashion and play was mostly confined to the midfield in the first half.
East Bengal could hardly make any goalbound move in the first half except one in the 44th minute when following a pass from Debabrata, Edmilson failed to capitalise on the chance.
But the second half saw East Bengal making a number of raids but had to wait till the 74th minute because of stubborn defence put up by Viva Kerala.
Like many other occasions it was wily Edmilson who put them in the lead. Collecting a nice pass from Ashim Biswas, Edmilson found the target neatly to make it 1-0.
East Bengal kept up the pressure and doubled the lead five minutes later. Medio D'Cunha collected a ball from his own half and ran on the left flank and beat the rival keeper with a long ranger.