AFC Cup: curtains for East Bengal

April 29, 2015 01:41 am | Updated 01:41 am IST - KOLKATA:

East Bengal saw its AFC Cup campaign go up in smoke as it lost a rain-marred Group F league match by a solitary goal to visitor Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) of Malaysia at the Salt Lake Stadium on Tuesday.

Mohammad Amri Bin Yahyah scored in the seventh minute to ensure the victory for the visitor before heavy thundershowers stopped the match for almost 50 minutes and virtually took the competitive edge out of the contest.

Looking at a little chance of making it to the pre-quarterfinals, East Bengal’s Dutch coach Eelco Schattorie drafted in a good number of reserves to face the Malaysian league champion Ta’zim. The host started with the combination of Baldeep Singh and Baljit Singh Sahni in offence while R. Dhanarajan made his debut for the side in deep defence.

Concerted move

The team from Malaysia went for the kill early and found the target with striker Yahyah finishing a concerted move involving Argentine Luciano Figueroa and Singapore international Hariss Harun. Amri scored with a regulation tap-in after Harun did the hard work by building up the attack from the left flank.

Barely a minute before the goal, Amri had narrowly missed the target, mistiming a powerful volley. The game was stopped near the half-hour mark as the rain intensified. After the match restarted, following a prolonged break, under persistent drizzle, there was little from either side that could alter the scoreline.

The win helped JDT bolster its position at the top with 12 points from five outings and ensure a qualification to the pre-quarterfinals.

With a round still to go, East Bengal saw its hopes evaporate as it remained third with four points earned from a win, a draw and three losses.

The result: East Bengal 0 lost to Johor Darul Ta’zim 1 (Mohammad Amri Bin Yahyah 7).

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.