A 10-man East Bengal conceded two late goals to go down 1-2 to FC Arkadag of Turkmenistan and crash out of the quarterfinal in the AFC Challenge League here on Wednesday.
Messi Bouli put East Bengal in the lead in the first minute of the second leg quarterfinal match, but the Indian Super League side were reduced to 10 men in the 33rd minute when Lalchungnunga was sent off by the referee for his second yellow card offence.
Altymyrat Annadurdyyev then struck two late goals (89th and 90+8th) to seal the semifinal spot with 3-1 on aggregate.
It had won 1-0 in the first leg match in Kolkata on March 5.
East Bengal had qualified for the third tier of men’s AFC club competition by virtue of winning the 2024 Super Cup.
It topped Group A with seven points to make it to the quarterfinal.
The Red and Gold brigade got off to a dream start as Arkadag goalkeeper Rausl Charyyev could only parry Dimitiros Diamantakos’ strike into the path of Bouli, who gleefully tucked home the rebound.
AS IT HAPPENED: Arkadag vs East Bengal quarterfinal second leg highlights
Chances continued to fall the way of the Oscar Bruzon-coached Indian side and they nearly doubled their advantage in the 17th minute when Diamantakos produced a surging run through the middle.
But his low shot crashed against the post with Richard Celis unable to convert the rebound.
Arkadag looked to regain the advantage but Shanazar Tirkishov dragged his shot wide from just inside the box before an injury to defender Ybrayym Mammedov in the 30th minute saw him replaced by Berdimyrat Rejebov.
The Turkmenistan champion was given a lifeline three minutes later when East Bengal went down to 10 men after Lalchungnunga was shown a second yellow card for a foul on Yazgylych Gurbanov.
Despite playing with a man less, East Bengal was still creating chances with fast breaks, going close in the 52nd minute when Celis failed to get his header on target off Diamantakos’ cross.
Arkadag increased its intensity as the second half wore on with Shamammet Hydyrow forcing a fingertip save from Prabhsukhan Gill from a free-kick in the 76th as they chased an equaliser.
The home side’s persistence finally paid off when Annadurdyyev converted from the spot after Tirkishov was brought down by Sauvik Chakrabarti.
Annadurdyyev made sure of the win when he made a lung-busting run in the added time to sweep home from 13 yards out to take Arkadag through to the semifinals.
Content Source: sportstar.thehindu.com