Oscar Bruzon sees the positives despite East Bengal FC's loss to FK Arkadag in AFC Challenge League

Listen to what the coach has to say post the 1-0 setback.

Indian Super League (ISL) club East Bengal FC sustained a bitter 1-0 defeat to FK Arkadag in the first leg of their 2024-25 AFC Challenge League quarterfinal clash at the Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata, on Wednesday (5 March 2025). A solitary goal from Ýazgylyç Gurbanow in the 10th minute was enough to help the Turkmenistan side get a slender advantage ahead of the second leg at the Arkadag Stadium.

With the Torchbearers coming into the first leg as favourites for a result at home, the outcome will be a cause for concern for Spanish head coach Oscar Bruzon. Following the tough loss, the Spaniard addressed the media about the player’s performances and the challenges ahead.

East Bengal FC were wasteful with their goal-scoring chances

The Spaniard lamented his side’s inability to convert their chances, unlike their opponents, FK Arkadag. Despite taking 13 shots on Arkadag’s goal, the Torchbearers only managed to land one shot on target during the game.

While talking about the result, he stated, “Today in the build-up, we lost the ball. We could see the quality of the opponents in the two or three chances they had in the box. The quality of the opponents and their shooting. We did not want them to take advantage, so the referee allowed all the interruptions, and the rhythm of the game was disrupted.”

ALSO READ: AFC Challenge League 2024: East Bengal FC trail against FK Arkadag after narrow 0-1 loss

Oscar Bruzon is going ‘all-in’ on the second leg

With his side already at a deficit, Bruzon has hinted his solitary focus is to win at the Arkadag stadium. While sharing the stakes, he cautiously also shared that they need to analyze their opponents’ actions to make their home advantage count.

He stated, “We will go all in the second leg, trying to score the first goal, and if we do that, we can elevate our confidence. We will try to win this quarterfinal. This result looks bad losing at home, but it gives us all the possibility to get the first goal, and we will be there to try to qualify.”

Was making substitutions late in the game the right move?

Bruzon kept his substitutions for quite late in the game, not making his first change before the 70th minute and then making two more in the match’s final stages. When asked why he opted for the late changes, the Spaniard stated, “We did a lot of changes at half-time. We changed the wingers, we understood we needed to change situation of crosses. We put Richard Celis on the right, Naorem Mahesh Singh on the left, and Souvik Chakrabarti more deep to allow the runs of our centre-backs.

While admitting there were a lot of changes, considering the result, Bruzon defended his decision, stating, “Regarding the substitutions, there was no reason from the pitch that things were not working. We were dominating, we had energy, and we only made three substitutions. We did a consistent performance, but in this tournament, it’s not enough playing well. You need to convert and do well in both boxes, and that is why we lost the game today.”

Despite this defeat, Bruzon remains upbeat about his side’s chances of taking the fight to Arkadag in the second leg and making a comeback. He stated, “I’m an optimistic person, and I told the guys before the game in the dressing room that if we can win the game today by a 1-0 margin, then we need to think what we do in a week’s time. If we held the result, if we wanted to score the first goal, we probably would’ve had an existential problem. We needed to start the game pressing, pushing and capitalize.”

The Spaniard also shared his plan for the upcoming AFC Challenge League second leg. He shared that the Torchbearers will be ‘all-in’ from the first whistle, and the intent will be to score the first goal irrespective of FK Arkadag’s approach. With their competition future on the line, the onus will be on the Indian side to show up and deliver in the second leg.

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