Calcutta: The record has been created!
East Bengal routed Vietnam’s Sai Gon Xuan Thanh FC 4-1 in an AFC Cup Group H tie, at the Salt Lake Stadium, on Tuesday, to establish themselves as the first-ever team from India to go into the pre-quarter finals of the competition, unbeaten from the group stage.
No wonder it’s a terrific achievement from East Bengal as they have certainly done the country proud. Their success so far in this AFC Cup only reflects Indian football still has something to show for regardless of its falling Fifa rankings.
“Credit goes to the players, who did a fantastic job. The good thing is that we’ll be able to play the pre-quarters at home. Home advantage is always a crucial aspect in these matches,” an elated Trevor James Morgan said after the thumping win.
It took just seven minutes for East Bengal to gain the ascendancy against their Vietnamese opponents that looked for respite from this scorching heat. Edeh Chidi converted off a spot-kick, after the referee awarded in favour of East Bengal when the Nigerian fell down after being shoved by Sai Gon stopperback Luu Son inside the box.
Striker Emeka Oguwike put one in for Sai Gon almost immediately only for the linesman to rule the goal offside. Thereafter, East Bengal unleashed one attack after another that eventually reduced the already-struggling Sai Gon defence to tatters.
Towards the end of the first session, Andrew Barisic doubled the hosts’ lead. Saumik Dey’s interception, followed by an aerial pass, found an unmarked Barisic who made no mistake to slot the ball home.
The game, as it progressed, seemed more like a practice tie for East Bengal as they simply toyed with the visitors’ line-up. In less than a quarter of an hour into the second half, Penn Orji scored a brace that virtually marked the end of the game.
Penn got his first in the 53rd minute. He came up with a brilliant header, off a low Naoba Singh cross from the right flank.
Six minutes later, his header found the target yet again, with Chidi feeding him on this occasion with a fine centre.
Given their domination, East Bengal could well have scored another four had Chidi and Barisic not let go of sitters early on.
Besides, the final passes inside the 10-yard circle got balled up on quite a few occasions after the likes of Penn, Lalrindika Ralte and Sanju Pradhan initiated a series of goal-bound moves to force the opposition defenders to run for cover.
Christian Amougou pulled one back for Sai Gon, shooting home a right-footer after evading stopperback Uga Okpara. But taking the circumstances into account, East Bengal didn’t mind this lapse — one among the very few they committed in the current edition.
Selangor FA of Malaysia are the other team from Group H to qualify for the pre-quarters, beating Tampines Rovers 3-2 in Singapore.
TEAMS
East Bengal: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Saumik Dey (Robert Lalthlamuana, 84th minute), Uga Okpaa, Gurwinder Singh (Arnab Mondal, 64 th minute), Naoba Singh, Lalrindika Ralte, Cavin Lobo, Penn Orji, Sanju Pradhan (Ishfaq Ahmed, 82 nd minute), Edeh Chidi, Andrew Barisic.
Sai Gon Xuan Thanh: Minh Nhut, Thua Chi, Phuong Nam, Luu Son, Long Giang, Duc Linh, Nhat Tan, DH Max (Nhu Quang, 67 th minute), Trong Phi, Christian Amougou (Quang Chi, 74 th minute), Emeka Oguwike.
Referee: Fahad Almirdasi
