East Bengal lose, but not before a fight

A spirited fightback in the second half was not enough for East Bengal as the Indian club went down 2-4 to defending champions Kuwait SC in the first leg semifinal of the AFC Cup football tournament here.
For Kuwait SC, Issam Jemaa struck twice in the 18th and 33rd minutes, while Waleed Ali Jumah and Chedi Hammami scored a goal each in the 31st and 48th minutes respectively last night.
Uga Okpara and Lalrindika Ralte scored for East Bengal in the 66th and 87th minutes respectively at the Kuwait SC Stadium.
East Bengal were staring at an embarrassing defeat when Hammami struck just two minutes into the second half to make it 4-0 for the three-time winning hosts.

The visitors, however, sprung back to life after coach Marcos Falopa introduced Lalrindika Ralte and Cavin Lobo in the midfield.
Ralte was immediately in the thick of things as he fired a warning shot that just cleared the crossbar.

The substitute midfielder had a hand in East Bengal's first goal, floating in a corner from the left that was met by Okpara's powerful header into the back of the net.
Lobo went close with a low shot from the top of the box that flew just wide before Dika crafted a fine second for his side, taking down the ball on the left of the Kuwait SC box and cutting inside Al Sanea before lashing a fierce right-footed shot past Al Kanderi.

After being at the receiving end of the opposition's onslaught in the first half, it suddenly looked like East Bengal were calling the shots after the lemon break save that strike from Hammami.
Dika, as he is fondly called, himself scored a gem of a goal from a Lobo assist just before the final whistle to reduce the margin.