Turkmenistan side Altyn Asyr FC recovered from a goal deficit to beat home favourite East Bengal FC 3-2 in the Preliminary 1 tie of the AFC Champions League Two (ACL Two) at the Salt Lake Stadium here on Wednesday.
East Bengal started with promise and found its initiative paying off in the seventh minute when David Hmar found the Asyr net.
East Bengal showed the intent and the efforts to invade the opposition box at regular intervals and found the break as Nandhakumar Sekar chugged up the left channel to set up David, who dived low to connect with a fine header. The Altyn-Asyr goalkeeper Batyr Babayev blocked the effort just to see the ball rebound back to the East Bengal forward, who made no mistake with his tap in.
Stung by the early reverse, the Turkmenistan opted for a high-press approach and almost got the goal in the 12th minute but for the East Bengal custodian Prabhsukhan Singh Gill, who dived to his left to save Rahman Myratberdiyev’s powerful volley.
The East Bengal defence finally gave in to the relentless pressure from the Altyn Asyr attack in the 17th minute when Myrat Annayev beat an attempted offside trap by the home side and neatly placed the ball into the left corner of the net.
The host conceded further arrears as Altyn Asyr made it 2-1 in the 27th minute off a fine freekick conversion from Selim Nurmyradov.
READ MORE | East Bengal FC vs Altyn Asyr, HIGHLIGHTS
The visitor continued to impress with its combination play after the interval, which helped it breach the East Bengal defence once again early in the second half. Myrat Annayev did the hard work as he sped up the right to fire an angular shot that was tapped home by Mihail Titov to create a two-goal cushion for Altyn Asyr in the 52nd minute.
East Bengal head coach Carles Cuadrat did not start with his best attacking combination in Greek striker Dimitrios Diamantakos and the Brazilian forward Cleiton Silva. According to Cuadrat a lot of players are yet to attain the required match fitness as the team started its pre-season preparations late.
The Spanish gaffer introduced the two in the second half looking to haul East Bengal’s sagging offensive. This leant lot of sharpness to the East Bengal attacks and effectively stretched the Asyr defence, which conceded the second goal in the 59th minute.
Spanish midfielder Saul Crespo showed some fine skills to dribble past a couple of Asyr defenders and curled it past the opponent goalkeeper to make it 2-3 for East Bengal.
The host continued to put up a great fight hereon and appeared to find the equaliser in the 80th minute. But the goal, which Cleiton Silva had netted, was disallowed as the referee pulled up the Brazilian for infringement.
There were a couple of more opportunities for East Bengal but Altyn Asyr’s defence managed to thwart the home attacks to preserve the 3-2 scoreline. The loss meant East Bengal will now be playing in the AFC Challenge Cup later in the year.
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