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India’s East Bengal FC fought back to defeat Al Arabi SC 4-1 in extra-time to qualify for the AFC Champions League Two 2026/27™ Group Stage on Wednesday.
With the score tied at 1-1 after 90 minutes, the entertaining affair at Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Kiriangan Stadium was settled by strikes from Basim Rashid, David Lalhlansanga and Rohit Danu to put East Bengal into the group stage draw to be conducted in Kuala Lumpur on August 18.
The first half was played at a frantic tempo with both teams not sitting back, with Al Arabi sounding the opening warning with Zeid Qunbar dragging a shot wide from outside the box in the fifth minute.
Backed by the home crowd, East Bengal kept Sulaiman Abdulghafoor busy with the Al Arabi custodian fielding Basim Rashid’s powerful effort before reading Jesin Thonikkara’s attempted curler perfectly.
Al Arabi were left wondering how they did not go ahead in the 23rd minute when Kenean Maleko burst into the box and his shot from an acute angle appeared to squirm past Prabhsukhan Gill, only for the East Bengal goalkeeper to recover in time to claw the ball away from the goal line.
There was no let up from either side in the second half with Anayo Iwuala producing a forceful run for the visitors in the 50th minute that left three markers in his wake but Gill stood firm to block the shot.
From the resulting corner, East Bengal broke forward with pace and it was four attackers against two Al Arabi defenders that ended with Khaled Al Marshed producing an outstanding last-ditch tackle to block Bipin Singh’s goal-bound effort.
The breakthrough eventually arrived in the 76th minute with Iwuala slotting home from 12 yards after Sandip Mandi had hauled Maleko down in the box.
With the clock ticking down, East Bengal pushed forward and were rewarded with the equaliser in the 90th minute when Jay Gupta thumped a header past Abdulghafoor from Rashid’s free-kick delivery to force extra time.
The home side were now in the ascendancy and it was no surprise that they found their second in the 108th minute with Rashid smashing home a wonderful volley.
Lalhlansanga and Danu added gloss to the victory with strikes in the 117th and 120th minutes respectively to confirm East Bengal’s progression and send Al Arabi into the AFC Challenge League 2026/27.
