AFC Cup semi-final 2nd Leg preview: East Bengal vs Kuwait SC

Two-Goal Lead

Kuwait SC having a training session at the Salt Lake Stadium

When this semi-final match-up was confirmed, very few people except East Bengal fans would have imagined the tie to be still alive coming into the second leg.

Even after the first 48 minutes of the first leg, it looked like Kuwait SC had progressed to a third straight AFC Cup final as they were 4-0 up with East Bengal looking ragged.

All that contemplation should only have been done by fans and perhaps the media but in this case it looked like the Kuwait SC players in their minds were already thinking about the final as they simply dropped their tempo and allowed East Bengal to come at them.

Or perhaps they started playing with a ‘handbrake’ as Arsene Wenger likes to call it. But whatever the reason was for their slackness, East Bengal punished them by scoring two vital away goals and perhaps with a bit more belief, could have nicked another.

The 4-2 result kept this semi-final wide open and now Kuwait SC must come up with a solid display in Kolkata.

A lot has been made about East Bengal’s crowd support, but it is worth reminding that the 2012 AFC Cup final was played in front of 30,000 passionate supporters of Iraq’s Arbil but Kuwait SC showed their class by running out 4-0 winners to lift their second title.

East Bengal will have home advantage but don’t expect Kuwait SC to get intimidated and although they are not familiar with the artificial turf, they will certainly not use that as an excuse and instead adapt accordingly.

The Kuwait champions have had a perfect record so far in their domestic league, winning the first six matches and have scored 16 goals in their last three AFC Cup knockout matches.

While a semi-final is unfamiliar territory for East Bengal, Kuwait SC have consistently featured at this round of the competition winning six out of seven semi-final matches. Everything points to not only a Kuwait SC progression to the final but a second leg win for them as well. Hence, anything less will be a major upset.

Clearly, Kuwait SC are technically and tactically head and shoulders above East Bengal so the concern again for their Romanian coach Marin Ion will be about the psychological aspect of his players.

Complacency could be the greatest enemy of Ion’s side just like the final half hour of the first leg when they allowed East Bengal to comeback and make this tie a contest again. It’s worth noting that after securing qualification by winning their first four matches, Kuwait SC lost both on matchday five and six in the group stage despite the presence of almost their first-choice team.

Clearly, this side doesn’t enjoy scenarios where they don’t have to win. The Kuwait club has also had disciplinary problems with three sending offs in their last five matches and so they have to be careful as any numerical disadvantage in this tie could prove to be decisive.

Kuwait SC have been there done and that but must produce the goods once more to both keep their hopes alive of retaining the AFC Cup and avoid one of the biggest upsets in the competition’s history.

Form Guide

East Bengal: WDLWL

East Bengal have been inconsistent under Falopa but would be banking on their perfect home record in this year’s AFC Cup. However, they have only won two of their 23 matches against West Asian opposition in this tournament with just one victory on home soil against Yemen’s Al Ahli in 2008.

Kuwait SC: WWWWW

The Kuwait club’s perfect recent form tells us everything about their quality and consistency. Kuwait SC are also unbeaten on their travels to India with one win and a draw in two matches. The last time they were beaten by two goals or more in 90 minutes was in the 2011 AFC Cup when they were thumped 5-1 by Saudi Arabia’s Al Ettifaq.