Kolkata: A 2-3 defeat to a team from Iraq who have won their league eight times wouldn’t have been a bad result for East Bengal. And yet, this would feel like a night where David could have slayed Goliath.
Twice, East Bengal led through David Lalhlansanga, who also missed chances that could have fetched a first win in this Asian Champions League 2 campaign. After two games, East Bengal have one point from the 2-2 draw away to Jordan’s Al Hussein SC where they had squandered a 2-0 lead.
From a defensive sandwich, Lalhlansanga, turning sharply, put East Bengal ahead in the eighth minute with a crisp left-footer after a well worked move that was set going by a long ball from Anwar Ali.
Al-Shorta equalised through Ahmed Yahya’s header in the 14th only for Lalhlansanga to send the sparse turnout at Salt Lake stadium into raptures with a smart finish in the 40th minute following a free-kick he had won. Dani Ramirez’s shot was saved by Jalal Hassan but the rebound was hooked back to Lalhlansanga by East Bengal skipper Basim Rashid.
Two goals in Asia against a quality team would usually be a cause for celebration but it was a measure of how the game went that the 24-year-old, still getting used to this level after moving from Mohammedan Sporting in 2024, would look back thinking what could have been. Especially after second-half goals from Hussein Al-Saedi and Kingsley Kuku ensured full points for Al-Shorta who are in pole position in the group with six points from two matches.
{{/usCountry}}Two goals in Asia against a quality team would usually be a cause for celebration but it was a measure of how the game went that the 24-year-old, still getting used to this level after moving from Mohammedan Sporting in 2024, would look back thinking what could have been. Especially after second-half goals from Hussein Al-Saedi and Kingsley Kuku ensured full points for Al-Shorta who are in pole position in the group with six points from two matches.
{{/usCountry}}Half-time came with Ramirez applauding. If there was one team that wanted to go into the break at Salt Lake stadium it was the side from the country that had played the 2026 World Cup. Between India and Iraq in football, there isn’t a gap but a gulf. But in four minutes from the 42nd to the 46th, East Bengal could have bridged that and done more.
Three of the four chances in that period fell to Lalhlansanga. To the first, in the 42nd minute, he struck Jay Gupta’s delivery with the outside of his right boot but couldn’t keep the shot on target. East Bengal’s target man then went over from inside the penalty box, a miss that belied the smart finishing prowess the Mizo had shown earlier.
For the third, Lalhlansanga tried a first time shot after beating the off-side trap. He could have taken a step more and tried a placement because he had only Hassan to beat. But he decided to pull the trigger bringing out a smart save from the player who has represented Iraq 104 times and was part of their World Cup squad.
Hassan needed to be alert to deny Edmund Lalrindika and Lalhlansanga after the break. Al-Shorta also needed a clearance from the line to protect their lead. Hassan also had to stop a 35-yard effort from Lalchungnunga, the shot swerving away but the goalie getting a strong left hand. In first-half stoppage time, Hassan had to palm away an angular effort from Lalrindika after the East Bengal forward had cut in from the left.
With 28% possession, East Bengal had 10 attempts on goal, five of them on target in the first half. Al-Shorta had one and had scored from that through Yahya’s header, the skilful left-back stealing a pocket of space between Rashid and the centre-backs to meet Ruben Ramirez’s delivery from the right following a corner-kick from the other side. It was a lesson in being clinical in front of goal by a side who have played in the Asian Champions League Elite.
A lesson Al-Shorta delivered again in two early second-half minutes. For the equaliser, it was Yahya who provided the assist beating Hardik Bhat for Al-Saedi to tap home after sneaking inside East Bengal’s defence. 2-2 in the 51st minute became 3-2 when Kingsley Kuku, the centre-forward from Nigeria, ran and jumped before Bhat to head home Cristian Barco’s corner-kick. Yahya could have finished a good night with another goal in the 81st minute but, having rounded off Prabhsukhan Singh Gill, he couldn’t keep his shot on target.
By then, Al-Shorta were a player short; Moumoni being sent off for a second booking in the 77th minute. His first booking came in the 38th minute after a cynical challenge on Lalhlansanga when the East Bengal forward was through on goal. That was during a period of intense pressure from East Bengal who were repeatedly finding space in areas Al-Shorta didn’t want them to.
After the red card, East Bengal penned the green shirts in their penalty box, forced corner-kicks but the closest they came to equalising was a Gupta header which, given the night Hassan was having, ended in being an easy collection.