Churchill Brothers survived a last-minute scare to beat 10-man Gokulam Kerala FC 3-2 and extend its lead atop the 2020-21 I-League standings in Kolkata on Monday.

Luka Majcen's brace and Kingslee Fernandes' solitary goal helped Santiago Valer's side stretch its lead at the top of the points table to five points.

Gokulam Kerala made a dominant start to the game, and created a couple of chances in the opening three minutes, but Vincy Barretto and Phillip Adjah were unable to get their shots away from inside the box.

Churchill custodian Shilton Paul had to be alert when goalkeeper Ubaid CK released Adjah with a long ball forward. The Ghanaian tried to sneak his volley at the near post in the seventh minute but was unfortunate.

After the opening exchanges, Churchill started to trouble the Gokulam Kerala defence on multiple occasions and finally broke the deadlock with an excellent team move in the 26th minute.

Bryce Miranda knocked down Vinil Poojary's cross, sending the ball across the goal, where Majcen was waiting to bundle it into an empty net from close range.

Things took a turn for the worse for Gokulam in the 30th minute after Barretto was shown a direct red card for his challenge on Vanlal Duata. The Red Machines, aided by the dismissal, continued to show their dominance.

Churchill came close to doubling the lead in the 34th, but Miranda's cross kissed the top of the crossbar before going out of play. The winger created another opening through a shot from outside the box, but his powerful effort was saved by Ubaid.

Vincenzo Annese's side regrouped and came close to equalising in the 42nd minute after Shilton misjudged Emil Benny's cross, completely missing it and leaving the goal unchecked. The ball fell to Adjah, whose shot was blocked by Duata.

The Kerala-based side was gifted a penalty after Vikas pulled Dennis Antwi down inside the box in the 45th minute. However, Shilton saved Adjah's spot-kick with his legs, keeping the scoreline at 1-0 in favour of the Red Machines at the end of an eventful first half.

Gokulam returned after the break and played attacking football. But just like the first session, it failed to capitalise on the momentum as Churchill Brothers doubled its lead in the 53rd minute after Fernandes' shot took a deflection off Deepak Devarani and beat Ubaid at the near post.

I-League top-scorer Clayvin Zuniga twice came close to extending Churchill's lead. His curling strike from outside the box crashed into the crossbar in the 62nd minute. Ten minutes later, the striker found himself just inside the penalty box after a darting solo run. However, the Honduran failed to hit the target.

Adjah pulled a goal back in the 80th minute with a well-timed volley after he ran onto Antwi's layoff from Sebastian Thangmuansang's cross. However, Gokulam Kerala was let down by its defence after Zuniga was brought down by Naocha Singh.

Although Majcen's penalty was saved the first time by Ubaid, the referee ordered him to retake the spot-kick after an infringement by the keeper. Offered a second chance, Majcen made no mistake from the spot, giving Churchill a two-goal lead with just three minutes of regulation time left.

Towards the end, Gokulam substitute M. S. Jithin curled his shot past Shilton after nutmegging an opposition defender two minutes into added time, thus giving his side a late lifeline which was not enough.