Al Arabi loses to East Bengal... and participates in the Asian Challenge
Al-Arabi’s first football team lost 4-1 to their hosts, Indian side East Bengal, in the match held at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata, as part of the qualification playoff for the 2022 AFC Champions League Two. With this defeat, Al-Ahli (the Green) will participate in the new season of the AFC Challenge League. The two teams, Al-Arabi and East Bengal, contested the decisive match for a spot in the 2022 AFC Champions League Two, with only “half a berth” available to reach the tournament’s group stage, which the home side secured. Consequently, Kuwaiti clubs’ continental participation will include Al Kuwait Club in the 2022 AFC Champions League Two, Al-Qadsia and Al-Arabi in the AFC Challenge League, in addition to Kazma SC’s involvement in the new edition of the Gulf Champions League, bringing the total number of Kuwaiti clubs competing in external Asian and Gulf competitions to four. Al Kuwait will participate in the 2022 AFC Champions League Two with a direct entry, following their title win in last season’s AFC Challenge League.
Al-Ahli squandered their lead and failed to maintain their one-goal advantage, which came through Nigerian star Ebiowei Iyalla in the 76th minute from a penalty kick. They conceded the equalizer in the 89th minute of regular time, scored by East Bengal’s Jay Gupta with a header that found the net of goalkeeper Suleiman Abdulghafour in the dying moments, ending regular time with a 1-1 draw and sending the match into two periods of extra time. In extra time, despite Al-Ahli’s superiority in attacking threat, they failed to convert their dominance into goals, and the first half of extra time ended 1-1. In the second half of extra time, Al-Ahli’s physical condition collapsed, conceding three goals scored by Palestinian Mohammed Rashid in the 108th minute, David Lalrluan in the 117th minute, and Rohit Danu in the 120th minute.
Al-Ahli started well upon returning to the match’s flow. The Al-Arabi side began the game positively, with Croatian coach Goran Sablić fielding a lineup featuring Suleiman Abdulghafour in goal; defenders Abdulwahab Al-Awadi, Sheldon, Jauhar Rasool, and Abdullah Ammar; midfielders Aziz, Khaled Al-Mutairi, and Kenan Maljko; and forwards Youssef Majed, Zaid Qanbar, and Iyalla. The team delivered the required defensive and offensive performance despite the strength of the Indian side and their strong home support. Al-Ahli created several scoring opportunities, culminating in a penalty in the 75th minute, which Iyalla successfully converted to give his team a 1-0 lead.
Physical decline over time: The physical output of Al-Arabi players began to wane as the match progressed, negatively affecting their mental presence and concentration, particularly in defense, leading to the equalizer in the final minute of regular time and forcing extra time, during which the Indian side gained the upper hand with focused attacks that resulted in three goals.
Absence of VAR technology: The absence of Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology in the match cost Al-Ahli chances that could have decided the encounter in their favor due to refereeing errors. The most notable was an offside call against Iyalla despite him not crossing the halfway line, as well as a questionable goal in the dying moments that appeared to have crossed the Indian team’s goal line, but to no avail.
