East Bengal’s struggles in front of goal continued as Oman’s Al Seeb struck twice in the closing minutes to claim a 2-0 victory in their AFC Champions League Two Group D encounter at the Salt Lake Stadium on Tuesday.
Despite controlling possession and creating several scoring opportunities, Antonio Habas’ side failed to capitalise on its dominance, allowing the visitors to snatch three crucial points through late goals from Axel Meye and Zahir Sulaiman.
The hosts began brightly, putting Al Seeb under pressure with quick passing and attacking movement. Dani Ramirez nearly opened the scoring in the 10th minute, but his left-footed attempt narrowly missed the target.
East Bengal suffered an early setback when defender Anwar Ali picked up an injury and was replaced by Sandip Mandi in the 18th minute.
Two minutes later, Edmund had an opportunity to break the deadlock, only to be denied by goalkeeper Ibrahim Al Mukhaini. Bipin Singh kept the attack alive, but captain Rashid failed to direct his header on target.
Ramirez threatened again in the 33rd minute, forcing Ibrahim into an impressive diving save as the teams entered halftime without a goal.
Al Seeb showed greater attacking intent after the restart, with Meye heading over from close range in the 48th minute.
East Bengal continued searching for the opener, but Ibrahim remained difficult to beat. The goalkeeper produced another important stop in the 61st minute to deny Ramirez following a move involving Jay Gupta and substitute Ake Loba.
At the opposite end, East Bengal goalkeeper Phurba Lachenpa made a crucial reflex save against Omer Almalki in the 76th minute.
However, the visitors finally broke through in the 85th minute when Meye controlled Hassan Al-Ajmi’s delivery, beat Mandi and fired the ball into the net.
Al Seeb doubled their advantage in the first minute of stoppage time as Meye set up substitute Zahir, who calmly finished into the bottom-right corner.
Habas’ decision to leave three registered foreign players on the bench initially also came under scrutiny. Second-half introductions of Loba and Lukasz Zwolinski failed to provide the attacking breakthrough East Bengal desperately needed.
The defeat leaves East Bengal at the bottom of Group D with just two points, while Al Seeb move into third place with four.
Having previously earned away draws against Al Hussein SC and Al Seeb, East Bengal have now suffered consecutive home defeats against Al Shorta SC and the Omani outfit.
With their continental campaign losing momentum, East Bengal must urgently address their poor finishing if they hope to revive their fortunes in the competition.
