Kolkata: A 2-3 defeat to a team from Iraq who have won their league eight times wouldn’t have been a bad result for East Bengal. And yet, this would feel like a night where David could have slayed Goliath.
Twice, East Bengal led through David Lalhlansanga, who also missed chances that could have fetched a first win in this Asian Champions League 2 campaign. After two games, East Bengal have one point from the 2-2 draw away to Jordan’s Al Hussein SC where they had squandered a 2-0 lead. Al-Shorta equalised through Ahmed Yahya’s header in the 14th only for Lalhlansanga to send the sparse turnout at Salt Lake stadium into raptures with a smart finish in the 40th minute following a free-kick he had won.
Dani Ramirez’s shot was saved by Jalal Hassan but the rebound was hooked back to Lalhlansanga by East Bengal skipper Basim Rashid.
With 28% possession, East Bengal had 10 attempts on goal, five of them on target in the first half. 2-2 in the 51st minute became 3-2 when Kingsley Kuku, the centre-forward from Nigeria, ran and jumped before Bhat to head home Cristian Barco’s corner-kick. From a defensive sandwich, Lalhlansanga, turning sharply, put East Bengal ahead in the eighth minute with a crisp left-footer after a well worked move that was set going by a long ball from Anwar Ali. Al-Shorta had one and had scored from that through Yahya’s header, the skilful left-back stealing a pocket of space between Rashid and the centre-backs to meet Ruben Ramirez’s delivery from the right following a corner-kick from the other side. It was a lesson in being clinical in front of goal by a side who have played in the Asian Champions League Elite. A lesson Al-Shorta delivered again in two early second-half minutes. For the equaliser, it was Yahya who provided the assist beating Hardik Bhat for Al-Saedi to tap home after sneaking inside East Bengal’s defence. Yahya could have finished a good night with another goal in the 81st minute but, having rounded off Prabhsukhan Singh Gill, he couldn’t keep his shot on target. By then, Al-Shorta were a player short; Moumoni being sent off for a second booking in the 77th minute. His first booking came in the 38th minute after a cynical challenge on Lalhlansanga when the East Bengal forward was through on goal. That was during a period of intense pressure from East Bengal who were repeatedly finding space in areas Al-Shorta didn’t want them to.
Two goals in Asia against a quality team would usually be a cause for celebration but it was a measure of how the game went that the 24-year-old, still getting used to this level after moving from Mohammedan Sporting in 2024, would look back thinking what could have been. Especially after second-half goals from Hussein Al-Saedi and Kingsley Kuku ensured full points for Al-Shorta who are in pole position in the group with six points from two matches.
