East Bengal 0 Al Seeb 0
Bibhash Lodh, BS News Agency: East Bengal had gone ahead by 2 goals against Jordan's Al Hussain in the first match of ACL 2 but conceded 2 goals and returned home with 1 point. In the second match of Yuva Bharati, the red and yellow could not win against Iraq's Al Shorta despite going ahead twice. The match was lost. In the third match of ACL 2 at Oman's ground on Tuesday, the Mashal Bahini had to be content with a goalless draw with Al Seeb due to the inability to create goal opportunities and the weakness of finishing in the attacking third. East Bengal fell far behind in terms of points in the group league table with 2 points from 3 matches. Al Seeb's gain from the match is the first point from this group.
Since the Durand Cup, East Bengal footballers have been playing one tournament and match after another. After the ACL 2 playoffs with the Shield, the red and yellow brigade had to participate in two away matches of the ISL in addition to the main stage of the ACL 2. It is natural for the footballers to be under the pressure of playing matches frequently. Understanding this, East Bengal coach Antonio Lopez Habas said that it is necessary to rotate the footballers so that fatigue does not affect the performance of the footballers. Following that path, Habas is making some changes in the first eleven in every match. That change was visible in the red and yellow first eleven against Omani club Al Seeb. Habas used Ivory Coast striker AK Loba and PV Vishnu from the beginning in the ISL match against Inter Kashi. But instead of starting him or Zoloniski, who scored a goal in the last match, they kept Edmund and David in the first eleven to attack with Bipin.
Al Seeb has not won any match at home before, so it is possible that they did not try to go all-out against East Bengal from the beginning. There may be another reason for Al Seeb's cautious football. That is, Al Seeb's coach has seen East Bengal's strong football against Al Hussain and Al Shorta. He knows the power of East Bengal's attack and ability to score goals. So most of the time, the Omani club footballers try to keep the ball at their feet and control the game.
On the other hand, East Bengal footballers followed the instructions of Coach Habas and maintained their shape and discipline and did not give Al Seeb a chance to sit on their necks. Although they attacked from time to time, they were repeatedly blocked in front of Al Seeb's box by the stiff resistance of the opposing defenders. Edmund, David, Loba, Ramirez played a big role in the goals scored by the red and yellow footballers in the last two ACL 2 and ISL matches. But their hunger for goals was not noticeable in the first 45 minutes of the game against Al Seeb. The goal did not come due to the weakness of finishing after reaching the attacking third. A shot taken by David was promptly saved by Al Seeb's goalkeeper. Besides, the red and yellow could not create any significant opportunities to score in the first half. Credit must be given to Al Seeb defenders for that. It seems that Al Seeb coach has done his homework and put his footballers on the field to attack without giving space to Bipin, Edmund, David, Ramirez.
Since both teams did not take any extra risks, the first half ended goalless and went to the dressing room. In the second half, both teams returned to the field and increased their attack with a positive attitude. After measuring each other in the first 45 minutes, it is not unusual for Al Seeb and East Bengal coaches to order the footballers to come out of their shells for the winning goal. Coach Habas replaced Loba with David to get the goal. At the same time, to bring extra energy to the team, he brought in Rohit Kumar in the midfield and Sandeep Mandi in place of Lalchungnunga at the side-back.
Even then, East Bengal did not create many scoring opportunities, but in the 52nd minute, Bipin's left-footed shot hit the crossbar, giving the Oman goalkeeper a chance to score. In the 80th minute, Al Seeb goalkeeper Bipin's shot was saved from falling behind by Rashid's shot. In the next minute, Zibulic almost headed the shot into his own goal while blocking the shot taken by Al Seeb's footballer. The red and yellow team breathed a sigh of relief when East Bengal goalkeeper Lachenpa punched the ball over the crossbar as it entered the goal. In the 92nd minute, Hasan's long-range shot missed the goalkeeper Lachenpa and hit the post, allowing East Bengal to return from Oman with a point.
East Bengal coach Habas blamed the footballers' fatigue for not winning the match. He said that the pressure of playing consecutive matches as well as playing away matches has affected the performance of the footballers. It has become an obstacle in the way of giving the best. So, it is better to return home with a point than to lose the match. However, this time, returning to Kolkata will give the footballers a few days to recover. He hopes that the team will play more ball and win in the return match of ACL 2 against Al Seeb on November 3 with the support of the audience at Yuva Bharati.
East Bengal: Lachenpa, Lalchungnunga (Sandeep), Anwar, Zibulich, Joy, Edmund (Asif), Jackson (Rohit), Rashid, Ramirez, Bipin, David (Loba).