Al-Hussein Irbid came away with a satisfactory 2-2 draw against India's East Bengal, in the match played Wednesday evening at Amman International Stadium, as part of the first round of Group Four in the AFC Champions League Two.
اضافة اعلان
East Bengal went ahead by two goals in the first half, through Daniel Ramirez and Anwar Ali in the 9th and 40th minutes, before Al-Hussein rallied in the second half to score two goals of their own through Mahmoud Marzi and Ahmad Assaf in the 61st and 87th minutes.
A win once again eluded Al-Hussein this season, having lost domestically to Al-Faisaly and Al-Jazeera, and lost to Uzbekistan's Pakhtakor in the AFC Champions League Elite qualifiers, while drawing in the league against Al-Baqa'a, against a single win over Al-Ramtha in the Super Cup.
Players and spectators observed a minute of silence before kickoff, in mourning for the victims of the floods in Nepal and China, which claimed the lives of more than 600 people two weeks ago.
Al-Hussein will face Oman's Al-Seeb in the second round on October 13, at Al-Seeb Club Stadium, with the Omani team facing Iraq's Al-Shorta later on Wednesday evening.
Al-Hussein Irbid head coach Bashar Bani Yasin fielded a starting lineup of: Yazeed Abu Laila, Youssef Abu Al-Jazar, Pedro Henrique, Abdullah Nassib "Diara," Saleem Obeid, Ahmad Al-Salman, Youssef Qeshi, Moamen Al-Saket, Aref Al-Hajj, Mahmoud Khroubeh, and Mahmoud Marzi.
On the other side, East Bengal head coach Antonio López started the match relying on Prabhsukhan Gill, Hardik Bhatt, Anwar Ali, Diego Zivulić, Jay Gupta, Sandeep Mandi, Mohammed Bassam, Edmund Lalrindika, Jackson Singh, Mohammad Khan, and Daniel Ramirez.
The Indian team surprised Al-Hussein with an early goal after 9 minutes, following a well-crafted attack in which Palestinian player Mohammed Bassam passed the ball to teammate Edmund Lalrindika, who fired a powerful shot from inside the box that Abu Laila saved, before Daniel Ramirez followed up with a powerful close-range shot into the net.
Al-Hussein's first response came in the 16th minute, after Al-Hajj received the ball at the edge of the box and shot with his left foot just over the crossbar, before Brazilian defender Henrique wasted a valuable equalizing chance with a header the goalkeeper saved, following up with a shot that went into the side netting in the 19th minute.
Al-Hussein continued to dominate possession amid sustained attempts, with Al-Salman shooting wide of goal from long range in the 32nd minute, before "the Yellow" squandered another clear chance when Marzi headed a ball that Abu Al-Jazar couldn't connect with into the net in the 37th minute.
The Indian team proved no easy opponent, responding with a dangerous attempt from Edmund Lalrindika at close range that went over the crossbar, before winning a corner kick taken by Ramirez, which defender Anwar Ali headed into the net, capitalizing on Abu Laila being out of position, to make it 2-0 in the 40th minute, and the first half ended with East Bengal ahead.
At the start of the second half, Bani Yasin made a substitution, bringing on Mahmoud Shawkat for Al-Salman, aiming to control the midfield and create more chances against the opponent's goal, though the first attempt came from Ramirez with a precise shot from outside the box that went just wide in the 55th minute.
Bani Yasin then brought on Kenyan striker Masoud Juma, before Mahmoud Khroubeh produced an outstanding piece of work in the attacking third, winning the ball off East Bengal's defense and advancing with it, then passing to Mahmoud Marzi, who finished precisely with his right foot into the net in the 61st minute, cutting the deficit for Al-Hussein.
Al-Hussein tried to find the equalizer through shots from Qeshi and Al-Hajj, with the Indian goalkeeper saving the first in the 65th minute, while the second went over the crossbar in the 72nd minute, before Obeida Al-Namarneh, Ahmad Bani Mustafa, and Ahmad Assaf were brought on.
Assaf succeeded with his very first touch, scoring the equalizer in the 87th minute, after a superb cross from Al-Namarneh, which he met with a first-time touch into the net, bringing Al-Hussein back into the match in the closing minutes.
Al-Hussein intensified their attacking pressure in search of a winning goal, with Al-Hajj unleashing a powerful shot that the Indian goalkeeper brilliantly saved in the third minute of stoppage time, before Lebanese referee Sheikh Alaa Eddine blew the final whistle, with each team taking a single point at the start of their tournament campaign.
Resource: Al-Ghad. Reporting: Muhannad Jweiles
