A fighting East Bengal went down 0-1 to Thailand's BEC Tero Sasana in their opening Group D match in the LG Cup ASEAN Club football championships at Jakarta on Monday.
The all-important goal was scored by Thai striker T Chaiman in the 83rd minute after the National Football League champions battled on even terms with BEC, who have been finalists in the AFC Champions League, till the fag end of the match.
Chaiman's goal came four minutes after the Thai goalkeeper brought down Malswatulunga on the edge of the penalty box but the referee did not rule in East Bengal's favour.
The Kolkata side will now take on Army Football Club, Philippines, in their second and last group match on Wednesday. A defeat will seal their fate in the Championship. The top two teams from each of the four groups will progress to the quarterfinals.
After a barren first half during which both teams frittered away a few chances, the second half proved to be a lot more eventful.
East Bengal, who were attacking with Baichung Bhutia, as the lone striker, Alvito D Cunha and Bijen Singh, as the two wingers, looked more dangerous in the second session after coach Subash Bhowmick introuduced Malswamtunga in the 63rd minute.
East Bengal's first threatening move came in the eighth minute when Alvito D'Cunha tested the Thcustodian with firm header. But it was cleanly gathered giving no chance to Bhutia who was waiting to pounce on any slip up.
Two minutes later, East Bengal forced a corner kick but skipper Suley Musah blasted wide after the ball was well curved in from the right corner flag.
At the other end, BEC were mainly relying on counter attacks but the Bengal defence marshalled by Musah was equal to the challenge..
Changing ends, the pattern continued till the arrival of Malswatulunga who opened up the game with his nippy runs. Also excelling for the Kolkatans were Brazilian Douglas D'Silva and the hardworking Surkumar Singh.
This is the venue where India won the 1962 Asian Games gold medal beating South Korea in the final with goals from legendary Jarnail Singh and P K Banerjee.
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