East Bengal surrendered a two-goal lead as Al Hussein fought back to secure a 2-2 draw in Jordan.

East Bengal produced a composed performance in the first match of the AFC Championship Two group stage, with a 2- 2 draw against Al Hussein. The match was played at Amman International Stadium, Jordan. East Bengal started with Edmund and Ramirez on the attack, while captain Mohammad Rashid played in midfield. On the other hand, the home team, Al Hussein, started off with Al Haj as their only attacker.

From the very start of the match, East Bengal applied pressure. In the 4th minute, Dani Ramirez created the first opportunity but was unable to score. Despite this, East Bengal continued to attack, delivering shot after shot. They finally earned their first break with a close-range effort from Dani Ramirez. By the 25th minute, East Bengal had dominated possession with 51% and was building momentum. In the 40th minute, East Bengal increased the margin to two when Anwar Ali headed the ball from a corner by Dani Ramirez.

East Bengal dominated the first half

Till the 45th minute of the game, East Bengal kept the composure on their side; from creating chances to keep the momentum going, the red and yellow brigade played a commanding football. While players took the moment to create chances, attackers missed sweet opportunities, which is going to be a lesson for the next matches. Edmund, in the 38th minute, missed a really close-range shot, assisted by Jay Gupta; Edmund’s right-footed shot from the centre of the box was too high. In the 28th minute of the game, Sandip Mandi missed an attempt to score.

On the other hand, the home team, Al-Hussein, was still able to create a few chances. One notable opportunity came when Mahmoud Al Mardi missed a header from the left side of the six-yard box, sending the ball high and wide to the right. This chance resulted from Aref Al Haj’s cross following a corner kick.

Al-Hussein’s perfect comeback

After having a bad outing in the first half, Al Hussein came back stronger, with continuous play near the box, and one after another shots disturbed the red and yellow brigade’s defence. In the 61st minute Al-Hussein finally broke the deadlock when Mahmoud Al Mardi scored with a right-footed shot from the left side of the box, assisted by Mahmoud Khrouba. After that, they kept the momentum; Prabh Sukhan Gill had the busiest day in the box, while Al-Hussein was trying to impress the home crowd. East Bengal’s Bipin Singh created a small chance in the 63rd minute of the game with an attempt outside the box.

East Bengal tried to bring the momentum back but failed; no substitutions were able to stop the Al-Hussein attack. Using the pace of the game, Ahmad Assaf equalised for Al Hussein with a right-footed shot from the right side of the six-yard box, finding the centre of the goal on Obieda Al Namarnah’s cross.

East Bengal failed to defend their lead, causing them to lose all three points. They will now face AL Shorta, a club from Iraq, on 13th October at Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan Stadium.