Balestier Khalsa marched to their first ever AFC Cup win on Tuesday night, defeating India's I-League runners up East Bengal 2-0 at the Jalan Besar Stadium. The victory, aided by early goals from Jonathan Xu and Miroslav Kristic, will give the Singapore Cup champions ample confidence ahead of the daunting trip to Kolkata's Salt Lake Stadium for their next game on April 14, against the same opponent.
After defeats to Kitchee SC of Hong Kong and Malaysia Super League champions Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) in their opening group games, Balestier kept alive their hopes of qualifying from the group with a hard fought win against their Indian opponents who were missing five key players on national duty. Balestier now have three points from three matches while East Bengal have the lone point -- a draw against Kitchee in their opening game -- from the same number of matches.
Two goals in the first 20 minutes laid the foundation for Marko Kraljevic's team with midfielder Xu scoring in the sixth minute and forward Kristic doubling the advantage in the 19th. East Bengal striker Dudu Omagbemi's second half goal eight minutes from time was too late for the Indian side to salvage a point.
Xu pounced on a loose ball in the fifth minute following hesitancy in the East Bengal defence and shot past goalkeeper Abhijit Mondal to score the Tigers' first goal in the competition.
The visitors' woes were further compounded when their former Brisbane Roar and Adelaide United defender Milan Susak had to be withdrawn in the 15th minute after he was injured in a tackle inside the area.
The visitors' lack or organisation at the back was further exploited four minutes later when Kristic outran the rival defence to receive a long ball from Ho Wai Loon and shot home past Mondal to double Balestier's lead.
East Bengal dominated the second half after a couple of early substitutions. Balestier goalkeeper Zaiful Nizam had a busy half as he denied East Bengal's Nigerian striker Ranti Martins twice and pulled off a point-blank save to stop a goal-bound Sukhwinder Singh attempt from going in.
However, eight minutes from time, Omagbemi volleyed home off a flick-on inside the area to reduce the visitors' deficit. But despite throwing men forward in the final moments, the home team held on to claim three points.
In his post-match news conference, Kraljevic said his team deserved three points. "My team played very well and we deserved three points. The first 25 minutes was exceptional, although I was surprised how much space we were given by our opponents in defence because the artificial pitch was not an easy surface to play on."
Tuesday's other AFC Cup group match-up between S.League and I-League teams, however, ended favourably for the Indian side. Hosts and I-League champions Bengaluru FC defeated their S.League counterparts Warriors FC 1-0 in Group E at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium with midfielder Joshua Walker converting a penalty in the 36th minute for the winner. The win took the Indian side to second in the group with six points in three matches. Alex Weaver's side are yet to claim a point after losing all their three games.
JDT could have topped Group F if they had not lost in the Mongkok Stadium to Kitchee on Tuesday. However, the Hong Kong side defeated the Malaysian champions 2-0 thanks to first half goals from their Spanish forwards Juan Belencoso and Jorge Tarres and edged ahead in the standings with seven points from three matches.
Second placed JDT have six points from an equal number of games and will have a chance to leapfrog Kitchee when they host the Hong Kong side at Larkin Stadium on April 14.