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SportsFootball

David scores twice but East Bengal lose 3-2 to Al Shorta in Kolkata

The Iraqi champions struck twice in three minutes after half-time and held on with ten men, leaving East Bengal with one point from two AFC Champions League Two games.

From the editorial desk · KolkataPublished
The Salt Lake stadium in Kolkata
The Salt Lake stadium in KolkataVinayaraj / Wikimedia

Key points

  1. David Lalhlansanga scored twice in the first half to put East Bengal 2-1 up at the break.
  2. Al Shorta turned the game with two goals in three minutes early in the second half.
  3. East Bengal are third in Group D with one point from two games.

David Lalhlansanga scored twice in the first half but East Bengal still lost 3-2 to Iraq’s Al Shorta in the AFC Champions League Two at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan on Tuesday night.

The Kolkata club led 2-1 at half-time. Al Shorta scored twice in three minutes soon after the restart, then played the last quarter of an hour with ten men and still held on for their second win in Group D.

How the game turned

East Bengal started brightly. In the eighth minute Hardik Bhatt found David, who finished on the turn to open the scoring. The lead lasted six minutes before Ahmed Yahya headed Al Shorta level.

The visiting goalkeeper, Jalal Hassan, kept his side in the game midway through the half with two saves in quick succession. Five minutes before the break East Bengal went ahead again: captain Mohammed Rashid set up David, who had an empty net to aim at.

The second half belonged to the visitors. Hussein Al Saedi tapped in from close range after Yahya’s work down the left in the 51st minute. Two minutes later Kingsley Kuku rose to meet a corner, and his header went in off the arm of East Bengal goalkeeper Prabhsukhan Singh Gill.

Ten men hold out

East Bengal pushed hard for an equaliser. Hassan made two more point-blank saves around the 67th minute, and Bipin Singh came on in place of Bhatt.

The game opened up further in the 76th minute when Al Shorta’s Abdoul Moumouni was sent off for a second yellow card. Kuku even had the ball in the net late on, only for the goal to be ruled out for offside. East Bengal had nearly a quarter of an hour against ten men but could not find a way through.

Where it leaves East Bengal

It is the second time in two group games that East Bengal have let a lead slip. They were 2-0 up against Al Hussein on the first matchday and had to settle for a 2-2 draw.

That leaves them third in the four-team group with one point after two games. Al Shorta have six. Their next continental match is away to Oman’s Al Seeb on 27 October, and with four group games left they still have room to recover.

Before that the focus shifts to the Indian Super League. East Bengal open their league campaign against Churchill Brothers at Fatorda, Goa, on 18 October.

The documents