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East Bengal went down 0-1 against Malaysia’s Johor Darul Ta’zim at the Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata to crash out of the AFC Cup 2015 campaign. Amirul Zainal scored the only goal of the game in the 6th minute from Hariss Harun’s cross. They still have a game to play in this tournament, but mathematically it’s not possible for the Kolkata giants to qualify.
Eelco Schattorie, as expected, fielded a second string side with a single foreign player in the starting lineup. It was always going to be tough for the young East Bengal players to cope up with crafty and skillful Johor side.
The away side started attacking as soon as the whistle blew. They were overpowering East Bengal with pace and strength. From one such move, midfielder Amirul Zianal converted an easy tap-in to give his side the all important lead. Hariss Harun provided a ground pass inside the penalty box beating the East Bengal defenders.
It was raining heavily during the match and the Yuba Bharati turf looked testing for the sides, especially for the away team. East Bengal geared up well after conceding and started keeping the possession of the ball. Unfortunately, the strikers did not live up to expectation.
Around the half an hour mark, the referee halted the game citing heavy lightning at the ground and asked the players to leave the field. The game was stopped for almost an hour before it could resume. East Bengal looked more energetic after the break and dominated the game for final 15 minutes of the half.
In the second half, the teams took up different strategies. While Eelco Schattorie advised his players to go all guns blazing, Johor concentrated more on defending and hold on to their lead. The home side attacked in numbers and created a number of opportunities in front of the Johor goal, but failed to convert.
Eelco fielded Ranti Martins in the latter stages in order to restore parity and increase the sharpness up front. Ranti Martins tried his best, but looked helpless at times due to a lack of support. Most of the East Bengal attacks came from the left flank as Raju Gaikwad and Mohammad Rafique kept on crossing dangerously. Johor’s Argentine forward, Luciano Figueroa, on the other hand, tried his best to find a second goal for his team, but was often caught offside.
The Indian club tried their heart out to find an equalizer, but Johor Darul’s defenders were resolute, and the Malaysians deserved their win. East Bengal are in the third position in the group with 5 points from 5 games. Johor Darul Ta’zim and Kitchee FC qualify from Group F with a game to play.
