Sport - Football

East Bengal to face Ahli Sana’a

Kolkata: Kingfisher East Bengal would be looking to pick up full points when it meets Yemen’s Ahli Sana’a in a Group B match at the Salt Lake Stadium on Tuesday.

The focus will be on the home side, which is keen to pick up points having lost the previous match against Lebanon’s Safa SC by a lone goal in Beirut. Ahli Sana’a too conceded a deficit of points being held 1-1 by Jordan’s Al Wihdat at home. With only a round of matches gone, both the sides would be aiming to reach a comfortable position in the six-round group league, from where only one progress to the next round.

East Bengal coach Aloke Mukherjee, who took over from Manoranjan Bhattacharya after the team managed to avoid relegation in I-League, hoped his boys would be converting chances into goals. The East Bengal coach was hinting at the numerous misses that spoiled his team’s chances in the ‘away’ encounter against Safa.

“We did not perform badly in Beirut. Only that our boys could not score,” Mukherjee said.

The home team, strengthened by the inclusion of African recruit Ikechukwu Gift in the midfield, is hoping that its attacks get the desired the finish with its Brazilian striker Edmilson Marques having fully recovered from an injury.

Ahli Sana’a banking on the likes of Yemen National team captain Manaud Abdul Kaalij and midfielder Faud Al-Ammari. — Principal Correspondent

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