The Indian Super League champions were twice in the lead, with Lalhlansanga scoring in the eighth and 40th minutes, but the Iraqi side restored parity with goals from Ruben Ramírez (14th) and Hussein Al Saedi (51st) at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan. Kingsley Kuku put the visitors in front in the 53rd minute, scoring what proved to be the match-winning goal. David Lalhlansanga’s brace went in vain as East Bengal conceded two quick goals in the second half to lose 2-3 to Iraq’s Al Shorta club in their second group match of AFC Champions League Two on Tuesday.
The Kolkata heavyweights are winless in two matches. East Bengal slower than their opponents to settle into the game, but Lalhlansanga gave them the lead in the eighth minute when he collected Hardik Bhatt’s pass from the right and fired past Jalal Hassan on the turn. But Al Shorta levelled the score again six minutes into the second half after some fine work by Yahya on the left, who squared to a waiting Al Saedi to tap in from inside the six-yard box.
East Bengal also failed to capitalise on their numerical advantage in the last 15 minutes after Al Shorta’s Abdoul Moumouni was sent off for receiving his second yellow card of the match. With their second consecutive win, Al Shorta are currently on top of the Group D table with six points while East Bengal are third with one point which they earned after drawing with Al Hussein of Jordan 2-2 on September 16. Hassan made consecutive saves in the 21st minute — an instinctive one-handed parry from Lal Chungnunga’s 35-yard drive and then Lalhlansanga’s half-volley on the rebound as the home side pushed forward to regain their lead.
