Ten-man Gokulam Kerala defeated a youthful Hyderabad FC 1-0 to register their first win of the ongoing Durand Cup at Kalyani Stadium in Kolkata on Thursday.
Ghanaian forward Rahim Osumanu scored the solitary goal in the 46th minute, but the defending champions' joy was shortlived as a minute later, Emil Benny was sent off for a second yellow.
The young forward appeared to clip the heels of a Hyderabad player, for which he was given the red card and the incident curtailed Gokulam's attacking play.
Osumanu, who had scored in a 2-2 against Army Red last week, in Gokulam's Durand opener, netted again from a rebound soon after the second-half started.
Gokulam had been wasteful before goal in the first half with Osumanu firing straight at Lalbiakhlua Jongte in the Hyderabad goal, and Benny failing to score with the keeper out of position.
With their superior manpower on the pitch, Hyderabad dominated the second half, but failed to breach Ajmal PA's goal. Gokulam's skipper and holding midfielder, Sharif Mukhammad was declared the player-of-the-match.
Score: Gokulam 1 (Rahim Osumanu, 46) bt Hyderabad FC 0