East Bengal lose quarter-finals home leg 1-0 to FK Arkadag

East Bengal FC were subjected to a frustrating 1-0 loss by Turkmenistan’s FK Arkadag in the first leg of their AFC Challenge League 2024-25 quarter-finals played at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on Wednesday.

Yazgylych Gurbanov scored the winning goal for the Turkmenistani champions in the 10th minute.

The result means EBFC will now need to overturn a one-goal deficit when they visit the Arkadag Stadium in Turkmenistan next Wednesday for the second leg of the football fixture.

East Bengal started the game well in front of a vociferous home crowd but found themselves on the wrong end of the scoresheet just 10 minutes in as Yazgylych Gurbanov netted to give the Turkmenistani champions the lead.

The goal came against the run of play. Following a failed clearance by EBFC centreback Hector Yuste, Arkadag recovered the ball in midfield before threading the ball through to Gurbanov, who slotted past Prabhsukhan Singh Gill to give the lead.

After going behind, the Indian Super League club looked to respond and did well to keep hold of the ball.

Making effective use of it, however, left a lot to be desired as the likes of Dimitrios Diamantakos, Raphael Messi Bouli and Richard Celis hardly troubled the away goalkeeper despite managing to keep possession in the opposition third.

In fact, it was Arkadag who threatened to double their lead late in the half, not once but twice. Akmamedov hit the side netting at full stretch just before Gurbanov, who had set up the earlier chance, forced a fantastic save from Gill’s feet with a bouncing header.

East Bengal’s best chance of the half fell to Messi Bouli in injury time following a botched clearance by the visitors’ defenders, who made amends by closing down the striker quickly.

It was a similar story after the restart as Arkadag continued to allow Oscar Bruzon’s charges the possession but frustrated them in the attacking third. The Turkmenistani side also created a few chances of their own on the counter.

Around the 70-minute mark, East Bengal captain Saul Crespo saw back-to-back shots blocked by the Arkadag defence as both the home team and crowd’s frustration continued to mount.

As the match progressed, Arkadag managed the game well to see off an all-important away win.

Click here to read article