India's champion club East Bengal staged a spirited rally to hold fancied Singapore outfit Geylang United FC 1-1 in a Group 'E' encounter in the Asian Football Confederation Cup at Salt Lake stadium in Kolkata on Wednesday.
Daniel Hill put the Singapore side ahead in the 32nd minute while Mike Okoro restored parity for East Bengal in the 77th.
The Kolkata giants, who needed one point from the Group 'E' encounter to move into the next round, began in style and dictated terms for a major part of the game but had to rest content with a draw because of the prodigality of their strikers.
The draw ensured East Bengal a quarter-final berth and also kept the Singapore club's hopes of making the grade alive.
With a clean slate and 13 points from five matches so far, East Bengal will now take on Malaysia's Negeri Sembiland in their last group league engagement on May 18.
The red and gold brigade was stunned in the 32nd minute when Geyland's British import Daniel Hill scored against the run of play to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
Hill, who was played in midfield as against his usual position in defence, slotted the ball home unmarked after receiving a cross from Aleksander Duric from the left.
Trailing by a goal at the breather, East Bengal scaled up their attacks as the match wore on and finally drew level in the 77th minute. Nigerian striker Mike Okoro, lurking inside the rival box, latched on to a Sur Kumar pass from right and promptly scored, allowing no time for two rival defenders to react.
East Bengal's draw after eight consecutive wins in international matches might have disappointed the home crowd at the Salt Lake stadium, but for club coach Subhas Bhowmick it was a target well-achieved.
Nevertheless, the result of today's match could have been altogether different had even half the chances that came their way been converted by the East Bengal forwards, particularly Baichung Bhutia.
The Sikkimese ace proved a constant threat to the rival defence and remained busy throughout, but failed to net the ball in. In the 11th minute, his header off an Okoro floater inched out over the bar from close quarters.
In the 22nd minute, Bhutia chest-trapped a Malswamtulanga centre from right on top of the penalty arc. He took sudden acceleration to get past a solitary defender and race into the box all alone, but his volley on the move kissed the bar on its way out, much to the relief of rival custodian Shahril Jantan.
Again, in the 41st minute, Bhutia's push from inside the six-yard box was saved by a helpless Jantan for a corner.
In utter contrast to such an exhibition of misses by the local side, Geylang converted the only positive chance that came their way in the opening half.
In the second half, the visitors focused more on maintaining the lead by crowding the defence, but also brought out some sudden forays through speedy striker Mohd Noor, Hill and Durik.
East Bengal coach Bhowmick and his Geylang counterpart Scott O'Donnel were more or less satisfied with the performances of their teams. The former had reason enough to be happy with
the display given the fact that East Bengal played without four regular players.
Along with Bhutia, Brazilian striker Cristiano Junior, who had scored twice in the first leg match in Singapore, also had a bad day on the field. Besides plenty of misses, Bhutia bagged a yellow card while Junior got replaced by Kuluthungan early in the second session.
With both the strikers failing to deliver the goods, the locals seemed to be under pressure after the lemon break and Bhowmick effected three changes to rejuvenate the side.
The introduction of Dipankar Roy in place of Bijen Singh proved particularly effective as the medio brought variety and speed to East Bengal attack and finally paved way for their only goal.
It was from a Roy's pass down the right that Sur Kumar sent his floater for Okoro, who converted the chance with aplomb.
Geylang, though failing to open the rival goalmouth for most part, came across an opportunity towards the end to strike a winner, but none of the two forwards present in the rival box could reach a nice pass by Hill from the right.
With this draw, East Bengal remain on top of the table in Group E followed respectively by Geylang, Sembiland and Maldives' Island FC.
More from rediff