A spirited fight back in the second half was not enough for East Bengal as the Indian club went down 2-4 to defending champions Kuwait SC in the first leg semi-final of the AFC Cup football tournament in Kuwait.
Salgaocar consolidated their position atop the I-League table with a thrilling 3-2 victory over East Bengal in a Round 8 match in Kalyani on Friday.
East Bengal's hopes of becoming the first Indian football club to enter the AFC Cup final were dashed after they were beaten 3-0 by a far superior Kuwait Sports Club in the second leg semi-final, in Kolkata, on Tuesday.
It's been eight months since East Bengal triumphed in the Federation Cup but the age-old Kolkata club is yet to get the prize money for winning the tournament, thanks to dilly dallying on part of the All India Football Federation (AIFF).
AFC Cup semi-finalists East Bengal suffered a jolt ahead of their big match next week as they were beaten by former champions Dempo 3-1 in Kalyani on Thursday.
East Bengal rode on substitute Ryuji Sueoka's second-half strike to scrape past Semen Padang of Indonesia 1-0 in the home-leg of AFC Cup quarter-finals at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata on Tuesday.
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