East Bengal come from behind to edge past Al-Arabi SC to book spot in AFC Champions League Two
Red & Gold will play in the AFC Champions League Two group stage.
East Bengal FC clinched an imposing victory in their AFC Champions League Two Qualifiers game against Kuwait side Al-Arabi SC with a scoreline of 4-1 as they made a late comeback, relying on Rashid’s strike from distance and David & Rohit Danu’s match-winning goal. And now, after winning the game at home, the Red & Gold have booked their berth in the main phase of the ACL Two.
East Bengal FC, the hosts, delivered a great performance in the first half of the game with their governing brand of football as they ruled the whole pitch with a completely commanding manner. Al-Arabi SC, on the other hand, played their football for the last 10 minutes, when they got some chances, but they failed to bury them, as it was a great treat to watch for the Moshal Brigade fans.
This match is reminiscent of the game East Bengal FC played in the 1993–94 Asian Cup Winners’ Cup first round at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata against the Iraq-based club Al-Zawara.
They pulled off a great comeback win over the Iraqi side with 6-2, where Carlton Chapman scored a hat trick, and along with him, Akil Ansari, Sisir Ghosh & Kumaresh Bhawal bagged the rest of the goals.
Al-Arabi SC struck the opening goal, and it was the only goal that sealed the victory against East Bengal FC, who played the entire game in a very comfortable manner but, in the late minutes, conceded through a penalty kick as Sandip Mandi fouled Maleko at the 74th minute. But Jay Gupta made the impossible possible as he scored a brilliant header at the 90th minute, and Red & Gold made a late comeback.
MD Basim Rashid, who played a tremendous game for the defending ISL champions, scored the equaliser, and David Himar came from the bench to score the third goal. Talking about the absolute annihilation of the opponents, the winning goal was scored by Rohit Danu, and now they will play in the AFC Champions League Two Main Round.
East Bengal was a better team in the first 45 minutes
East Bengal FC started the game with complete dominance at home in front of their thousands of supporters, as the visitors didn’t have the chance to create or rely on any chances, as the hosts simply elevated their attacking transitions. MD Rashid, the captain of the Red & Gold, looked very sharp in the middle of the park as he targeted a long-distance shot in the sixth minute of the play, which was denied by their captain & goalkeeper, Sulaiman Abdulghafoor.
Edmund & Jesin Tk thrived on the ball into the zone 14, also in the final third, and tested the Al-Arabi SC defence with a compact nature, and the visitors looked to play their original wing play with their two great pacy wingers. In that scenario, the Arabi midfielder Al Marshed took his chance, but Gill was very steady with his positioning and saved the goal facing shot.
In the first 20 minutes of the game, the hosts dazzled with their performance in a very commanding manner, and the Kuwaiti side was below the bar to defend the attacking formations of the Red & Gold. In the 23rd minute Maleko, the wing option of Al-Arabi, had the best chance, but Gill appeared with a goal-line save, which was the first clear-cut threat for East Bengal FC. Gill showed some fantastic reflexes to get his hands quickly to the ball; Al-Arabi’s forwards made some objections but were quickly on their way to defend.
In the last 10 minutes, Al-Arabi created an ample amount of chances from Iwuala’s and Maleko’s ends in the 40th minute and in the 44th minute of the play. Among those chances, Maleko got the best chance to seal the opening goal for his side. From the right flank, Y. Majed’s cross found Maleko in the D box, but he headed the directed ball in the wrong route, as there was no danger for East Bengal’s last line of defence.
Iwuala scored the first but Jay Gupta revived East Bengal
At the 50th minute of the game, East Bengal FC had a golden opportunity to seal the game with a lead as Jesin TK comfortably passed the goal-facing ball to Bipin Singh, but from the D-box, the former Mumbai City FC forward missed the chance, which might have been a brilliant occasion for the Red & Gold.
At the very short the luck was not seen in the first 55 minutes of play for East Bengal FC as they managed to create great openings but somehow also managed to miss those.
PV Vishnu came from the bench, replacing Dani Ramirez, the newest signing from Punjab FC, who looked decent enough as he doubled down with Rashid and controlled the tempo of the game and the recruit Chris Ikonomidis subbed on, and Jesin TK subbed off.
The whole game scenario changed when Sandip Mandi committed a foul inside the box as he dragged down Maleko, and Al-Arabi got a penalty at the 74th minute, and Iwuala scored the first goal for his side at the 76th minute. The visitors led the game after East Bengal FC played their best brand of football at home but they scored first.
But the formidable side East Bengal FC left their mark at the 90th minute of the play as Jay Gupta scored the equaliser for East Bengal, a perfect eye-treating free kick from captain MD Rashid which found Jay Gupta’s head and he converted that ball into the back of the net.
Rashid, David & Rohit Danu’s strike sealed the victory
East Bengal has been doing a fantastic job in extra time as they have been creating opportunities continuously but haven’t been able to convert yet. This was one such opportunity but there was an offside touch, and the attack got neutralised.
A sweet half-volley from captain MD Basim Rashid from a great angle as the pass from Rohit Danu got deflected as the Palestine footballer of East Bengal FC converted the match-winning equaliser in the 108th minute, and in the 116th minute, David Himar lit up for East Bengal FC as he toyed with the opponents to score the third goal.
Rohit Danu, out of nowhere, got a free pass from PV Vishnu inside the box as he didn’t miss the golden opportunity to lead his team by a scoreline of 4-1. This secured their spot in the AFC Champions League Two Main Round.
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Rohit Mistri is a sports journalist from Kolkata with over two years of experience in the field. He has extensively covered Indian football, including major tournaments such as the Calcutta Football League and the Indian Super League. His work spans on-ground reporting, match coverage, and in-depth storytelling, along with interviews of prominent sporting personalities. Rohit brings strong communication skills and a deep passion for sports narratives to everything he writes.