Calcutta: Kitchee FC were held to a 2-2 draw by East Bengal at Mong Kok Stadium in Hong Kong, on Tuesday in what was a dead rubber, with both Johor Darul Ta'zim and Kitchee having already qualified from Group F.
Lam Ka Wai gave Kitchee the lead in the 14th minute which was doubled by Xu Deshuai in the 58th minute. With 10 minutes left on the clock, the Calcutta outfit rallied back with Ranty Martins pulling one back before Cavin Lobo earned East Bengal a point with a last-minute goal.
Kitchee finished second in the group as Johor Darul Ta'zim's defeated Balestier Khalsa 3-0 to finish on top. Johor will hence enjoy the home advantage in the one-legged Round of 16 clash, while Kitchee will play as the away team in their knockout stage tie.
"I have to give my team a lot of compliments to the boys for the second-half performance. I made some changes and took some risks and that paid off. Both the goals we conceded were due to bad defending. After that I made some changes and went all out. But the big positive was the mental strength we showed after being 0-2 down," East Bengal coach Eelco Schattorie was quoted as saying by the tournament website.
The first chance could have seen the hosts break the deadlock as early as in the 10th minute when Leung Ka Hai beat East Bengal's Robert Lalthlamuana on the right flank and played the ball through to Cheung Kin Fung. The latter's left-footer had rival goalkeeper Abhijit Mondal stretch to keep it out.
The goal came a few minutes after with Jordi Tarres wreaking havoc in the opposition box before finding Lam. The Kitchee skipper obliged by controlling the ball on his chest before letting go of a volley on the turn which gave Mondal no chance.
In a forgetful final ten minutes of the game, East Bengal first pulled one back in the 80th minute when Spanish stopper Fernando Recio, who had just returned to the starting lineup after injury, got caught dawdling in possession in his own box and Ranty slammed the ball home. Guo had to pick the ball from his net once again in the 89th minute after Lobo pounced on another defensive error to get his side a point.
In Bangalore, a spirited and young Bengaluru FC side lost 1-3 to Indonesian club Persipura Jayapura in their final Group E fixture. Udanta Singh's first goal for the club gave Bengaluru a 24th minute lead.
