East Bengal FC Lose to Turkmenistan’s Altyn-Asyr FC, Will Play in AFC Challenger League

East Bengal FC lost to Turkmenistan’s Altyn-Asyr FC 2-3 in their AFC Champions League Two Preliminary 1 tie at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata on Wednesday.

The Red and Gold Brigade will now play in the AFC Challenger League.

The home side were off the blocks from the words go. In the 3rd minute, a brilliant defence-splitting pass from Mehdi Talal, set Mohamad Rakip free down the right. His cutback for David Lalhlansanga was just out of the Indian forward’s reach.

David did not make a mistake three minutes later. A cross from Nandhakumar Sekar off the left was headed straight at the keeper, who parried the close-range effort onto the post. The new signing was the quickest to react as he turned the ball into the back of the net.

The Turkmenistan side was not the ones to sit back as in the 13th minute Rahman Myratberdiyev came close with a volley as Prabhsukhan Gill dove to his left to keep the ball out of his goal.

Altyn Asyr managed to equalize in the 18th minute when captain Ahmet Atayev found Myrat Annayev free in behind the defence as he volleyed the ball past a rooted Gill and into the left corner.

The visitors took the lead soon after Souvik Chakrabarti’s sliding challenge felled Nurmyradov Selim as the referee brandished the yellow card. From the resulting free-kick, Nurmyradov slotted the ball past Gill in the 28th minute.

East Bengal tried desperately to get back as even Altyn Asyr tried to double their lead. In the added minutes of the first half, Lalchungnunga was booked by the referee after he threw out a leg to stop a counter.

New Faces In

At the restart, Carles Cuadrat decided to bring on his bug guns as Dimitrios Diamantakos and Jeakson Singh, hoping that the duo make an imidate impact in the game.

But it was Altyn Asyr who managed to score in the 52nd minute as Myratberdiyev found Annayev on the right, whose initial volley was parried by Gill but straight into the path of Mihail Titov, who gladly turned the ball in. was waiting on the far post to boot it in the goal.

In the 58th minute, East Bengal were quick to reduce the deficit as Saul Crespo danced past three defenders from the left flank and curled the ball past the keeper into the far corner.

Come the 69th minute, the home side could have gone level as Ruslan Tajiyev almost turned the ball into his own net from a fizzed-in cross off Talal.

There was controversy in the 82d minute when Cleiton turned the ball from within the Altyn Asyr keeper. The referee signalled for a foul, which the East Bengal players realised midway through their celebrations.

In the very next minute, Tajiyev got a golden chance to put the match beyond doubt as his effort almost caught the home defence napping only for Gill to save his side.

East Bengal gave it their all in the closing minutes but ended the night red in the face despite their golden chance on the Asian stage for the first time in nine years.