Kolkata: Trailing till the 90th minute, East Bengal produced a comeback for the ages to beat Kuwait Premier League runners-up Al Arabi SC 4-1 and make the main round of the AFC Champions League 2 here on Wednesday.

Jay Gupta (R), who scored the 90th minute equaliser to inspire East Bengal to a comeback win, vies for the ball with Khaled of Kuwait’s Al Arabi SC in the AFC Champions League 2 qualifier at Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on Wednesday. (Samir Jana/HT Photo)

The 6-2 win against Iraq heavyweights Al-Zawraa in 1993 will remain the gold standard for East Bengal – even four years later it hurt, a member of the Iraq contingent at the Nehru Cup had said – in Asia but given their depleted squad and how close they were to being eliminated, this will surely come close. “The Asian Dream,” screamed a tifo before kick-off. The Indian Super League (ISL) champions sure are living it.

“It will be the most important match in two years for East Bengal,” skipper Basim Rashid had said. With a superbly volleyed goal in the 108th minute and an assist, the Palestine midfielder, whose strike had sealed the ISL title, led the charge.

David Lalhlansanga then did a Rashid, scoring in the 117th minute and setting one up for Rohit Danu in 120+1 to complete the rout. The calm Lalhlansanga showed while rounding off Al Arabi’s tall centre back Sheldon and leaving goalkeeper Sulaiman Abdulghafoor on the floor for the goal and then finding Danu, belied the fact that he, like most in this team, was new to this stage.

All night, East Bengal had tried and failed to get beyond the towering backline of Al Arabi. Till Jay Gupta did in the 90th minute. In 2023-24, the left back had had such a breakout season that he made the India team. He has fallen off the radar somewhat but, timing his run perfectly and moving in to meet Rashid’s precise free kick, Gupta connected with a powerful header that fetched East Bengal the equaliser. Salt Lake stadium shook.

Bipin Singh could have done that – get the cauldron of nearly 18,000 go wild on a wet, muggy night– as East Bengal broke from a corner-kick in the 54th minute but his shot was cleared by Sheldon. Then, East Bengal fell back to a Anayo Iwuala penalty in the 76th minute, the Nigeria international scoring in his first match for his new club.

Early season blues were evident for both teams in runs not being made – like when Gupta didn’t bomb up the left in the way Edmund Lalrindika had expected him to – a throw-in from Al Arabi SC’s wingback Abdalla Albuloushi that was easily intercepted by Hardik Bhatt and poor finishing from Kenean Maleko. East Bengal are three matches into the new season and Al Arabi were playing their first competitive game of 2026-27. And new coaches were in charge for both teams.

That said, Antonio Lopez Habas would have been happy at half-time. Take the match deep, East Bengal’s coach had said on match eve. Show tactical intelligence, Rashid had chipped in. With only three foreigners available – Al Arabi had six – East Bengal were doing both. And against a team that had trained in Turkiye and played a friendly against top Egyptian team Pyramids FC, East Bengal were not sitting deep.

Gupta was turned inside out by Khaled Almershed in the second minute but East Bengal began exploiting space between the Kuwait team’s midfield and defence. Rashid forced a save from Abdulghafoor, the Al Arabi keeper and skipper. Rashid then found Jesin TK whose shot was weak as it was from the East Bengal forward when Lalrindika had spotted him. In the 19th minute, following a quick throw-in from Jesin, Jeakson Singh had wriggled inside the box but was crowded out. Lalrindika then turned Abdul Alawadhi inside out but ended up losing the ball.

Such misses usually do not go unpunished and Yousef Alshammari managed to slip one through Prabhsukan Gill’s legs at the near post in the 23rd minute but the East Bengal goalie collected before all of the ball had crossed the goalline.

On a pitch that had received a dunking before kick-off, Al Arabi couldn’t get going; their wingbacks being reined in by East Bengal’s all-Indian backline. Al Arabi SC kept testing Gill at the near post but Iwuala went over once and couldn’t keep his shot on target on the other occasion.

Iwuala’s goal sucker-punched East Bengal and happened because of Sandip Mandi’s inexperience. The East Bengal centre-back was nowhere near the ball and then lost Maleko. The Ethiopian, a friend of Fikru Teferra who had lit up the first edition of the ISL in 2014, fell and Tajikistan referee Gulmurodi Sadullo pointed to the spot. The finish was perfect and Al Arabi could have made it 2-0 but Alshammari couldn’t direct his header under pressure from Gupta. Then, Gupta turned up at the other end.

East Bengal will join Bahrain’s Al-Khaldiya and Oman’s Al-Nahda in Pot 4 for the group-stage draw which will be held in Kuala Lumpur on August 18.