AFC Cup: Tampines Rovers 2-4 East Bengal - Kolkata club edge closer to round of 16

Tampines Rovers 2 (Hadzibulic 28, Amri 65) – East Bengal 4 (Hadee OG 19, Barisic 62, 87, Chidi 64)

Tampines Rovers: Sasa Dreven; Anaz Hadee, Kunihiro Yamashita, Jufri Taha, Shaiful Esah; Imran Sahib (Firdaus Kasman 89), Martin Wagner (Jamil Ali 71), Shahdan Sulaiman, Ismadi Mukhtar; Sead Hadzibulic (Aleksandar Duric 83), Khairul Amri.

East Bengal: Abhijit Mondal; Harmanjot Singh Khabra (Gurwinder Singh 73), Raju Gaikwad, Uga Okpara, Saumik Dey; Sanju Pradhan, Mehtab Hossain, Penn Orji, Lalrindika Ralte; Andrew Barisic (Manandeep Singh 90+2), Edeh Chidi.

East Bengal produced a brilliant away performance to beat Singapore champions Tampines Rovers 4-2 in an AFC Cup Group H match on Wednesday. The result ended East Bengal’s 11-match winless streak on the road in the AFC Cup, and took them ever so close to the knockout stage for the first time since 2004.

An own goal from Anaz Hadee gave East Bengal the lead, but Sead Hadzibulic equalised for the home side as the teams were locked 1-1 at the break. However East Bengal forwards Edeh Chidi and Andrew Barisic proved to be the difference in the second half, as the former scored and set up two while the Australian bagged a brace. Khairul Amri’s strike in the second half proved to be a consolation for the S-League leaders, as they suffered their second straight home defeat in the competition.

With Vietnam’s Sai Gon Xuan Thanh beating Malaysia’s Selangor 2-1 in the other game of the group, East Bengal and the Vietnam club both have seven points each, but the I-League outfit lead the standings because of a better goal difference. It will also help them knowing that two of their last three matches will be in Kolkata.

Trevor Morgan made just two changes to the eleven that started in the goalless draw with Vietnam’s Sai Gon Xuan Thanh on matchday two, as Abhijit Mondal replaced Gurpreet Sandhu in goal while Raju Gaikwad slotted in at central defence in place of Gurwinder Singh.

Tampines Rovers were missing their club captain and influential midfielder Fahrudin Mustafic through suspension, so Singapore international Shahdan Sulaiman got the captain’s armband, with Argentinean Martin Wagner his central midfield partner. The dangerous Amri was supporting Serbian target man Hadzibulic in a 4-2-3-1 system.

Both sides tried to pass the ball in the early stages, with East Bengal wasting a couple of promising moves as their final pass was poor, but hosts Tampines could have easily taken the lead through Amri, whose header from an indirect freekick was saved by Abhijit with his feet.

East Bengal took the lead in bizarre fashion when Mehtab Hossain’s corner somehow found Lalrindika Ralte in the far post, and the Mizoram midfielder’ effort was bundled into the back of the net by an unfortunate Hadee, who also seemed to handle the ball in the buildup.

Tampines responded well by controlling the midfield, but were level thanks to some direct football. Skipper Sulaiman was given the time and space to put in a looping cross, which was headed home by an unmarked Hadzibulic.

East Bengal struggled to get going for the remainder of the first half as they were giving the ball away cheaply, while the Singapore club were dominating possession but failed create any decent opportunity.

The Indian club began the second half brightly and should have taken the lead in the 54th minute when Chidi found himself completely free inside the box. However, his effort was blocked on the line by a couple of Tampines defenders.

Barisic (in pic) & Chidi destroyed Tampines Rovers in the second half

The hosts dominated possession in the second half as well, and that actually suited East Bengal, as they could play on the counter. And from one such break, Morgan’s side went in front, as Chidi’s low cross into the six-yard box was slotted home by Barisic.

Two minutes later, East Bengal once again won the ball in their own half and started another counter attack, led by skipper Sanju Pradhan. The Sikkimese found Penn on the right wing, and the Nigerian’s low cross found Chidi, who scored with ease from close range.

Two counter attacks produced two fine goals, and at 3-1, East Bengal looked to be cruising. However, from the restart, they lost concentration and conceded. A long cross from the right wing found Hadzibulic, who won the header despite the presence of Uga Okpara and Raju Gaikwad, and the second ball found an unmarked Amri, who half volleyed it past Abhijit.

At 3-2, East Bengal looked nervous and also lost fullback Harmanjot Singh Khabra through injury. Tampines coach Nenad Bacina brought on the creative Jamil Ali and the legendary Aleksandar Duric in search of the equaliser, but Barisic could have sealed the points as his shot from just outside the box was brilliantly saved by Sasa Dreven.

The Singapore club had some half chances but Amri should have equalised from Shaiful Esah’s freekick as he couldn’t find the back of the net despite getting a free header.

That miss proved to be fatal, as East Bengal scored minutes later from another counter attack. Once again, it was the Chidi-Barisic combination, with the Australian this time scoring with a touch off his stomach after another fine low cross into the six-yard area from Chidi. Barisic could have had his hattrick from another counter attack, but his shot was straight at goalkeeper Dreven.

This is East Bengal’s first away win in the AFC Cup since 2008, and three points against the same opponents in Kolkata on Tuesday will surely book their place in the round of 16.