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[caption id="attachment_6574" align="alignnone" width="580"] Bernard Mendy made a perfect debut for East Bengal in I League . Image Source : Xtra Time[/caption] Barasat : Bernard Mendy made a perfect debut in I League with East Bengal . The French International was instrumental in giving the Red and Gold a much needed win to get them back on track in the race for I League . Goals from  Bikash Jairu (72') and Bernard Mendy (74') helped East Bengal defeat Aizawl FC 2-0 in a round six I-League encounter at the Barasat stadium in Kolkata, on Friday. There was a huge expectation from East Bengal fans today at Barasat stadium to watch Mendy .The French International did not disappoint though as he was all over the park making his presence felt . Mendy came close to scoring as early as the fourth minute . He got past two men in the middle of the park and released a shot which sailed wide . 10 minutes later  he was involved  again as  he headed wide a long cross sent in by Saumik. Aizawl were not sitting quiet as they kept building occasional attacks and took their first shot on target in the 20th minute. Yuta Kinowaki shot went straight in the hands of  Barreto . Mendy and Jairu were the ones who showed some resistance for the home side. Aizawl FC’s last line of defence Soram Porei was outstanding under the bars denying Mendy from scoring a close ranger. Ranti Martins too was not able to get his overhead volley on target off  Do Dong-Hyun's flagkick before the half hour mark. Aizawl FC had the upper hand in the first half. Rahul Bheke was outstanding today except for the yellow card he received in the 17^th minute due to a hard tackle. Aizawl FC defenders were finding it difficult  to match  Mendy’s pace. Poirei went on to save another effort by Ranti while in another East Bengal attack the Nigerian's goal was ruled offside as the first half ended in a goalless affair. Both teams went into the breather goalless . East Bengal showed more intent after the breather and were more aggressive trying to break the deadlock . The Red and Gold coach Biswajit Bhattacharya brought in Cavin Lobo in place of  Sabeeth who looked quite off colored today. Ranti Martins almost gave the home side a lead , as he  managed to put a feather touch to the ball with Poirei diving the other side, but the shot was  very weak one  and it allowed the Aizawl goalkeeper to recover and gather the ball before it crossed the goal line. East Bengal made frequent attacks between the 60^th to 70^th minutes. In the 60^th minute the gaffer replaced Dong with Joaquim. The Korean  looked very unhappy with the decision as he kicked a bottle lying on the sidelines out of frustration . He was not ready to sit on the dugout either . He was heading towards the dressing room before East Bengal officials stopped him from doing so. The elusive goal finally came in the 72nd minute when Bikash Jairu squeezed in between two opponent defenders to head the ball into the left corner of the net off an incisive cross by substitute Joaquim Abranches from the right. Two minutes later, it took another substitute to create East Bengal's second goal as Cavin Lobo pushed in a cross from the left and it was none other than Bernard Mendy to head into the bottom left corner . East Bengal coach Biswajit Bhattacharya made quite a few changes from the last encounter against Bengaluru FC . Mendy replaced Md. Rafique in the starting lineup for the Red and Gold brigade while CS Sabeeth, Saumik Dey  and Rahul Bheke came in place of Joaquim Abranches, Narayan Das and Samad Ali Mallick repectively. Luis Barreto replaced T.P Rehenesh who was missed today due to national duty for the SAG. Even Narayan Das was missed for the same reason. The scoreline could have been 5-0 had  Ranti and Mendy converted the chances . East Bengal are now 11 points from 6 matches just behind the league toppers Bengaluru FC.