AFC Cup: Kazma beat 10-man East Bengal, make last-16

Kuwaiti outfit Kazma scored in the dying minutes to register a hard-fought 2-1 victory over a 10-man East Bengal in their concluding Group B AFC Cup league match at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata on Wednesaday.

The victory was enough to earn Kazma 11 points and a berth in the pre-quarter-finals.

East Bengal ended their campaign without a point, having lost all their six matches.

Ismail Sulaiman Ashoor Al-Ajmi (6th) and Mashari Al-Azmi (90th) scored for Kazma, while East Bengal's only foreigner in the line-up Edmilson Marques (17th) scored for the home outfit.

After conceding an early goal, the red-and-gold brigade came back strongly after their Brazilian forward fired home a deflection for the equaliser.

The local giants were reduced to 10 players when Saikat Saha Roy was sent off after picking his second yellow in the 35th minute.

The defender was handed the first warning in the eighth minute.

A dubious decision by referee Kim Sang Woo robbed East Bengal of a penalty after Edmilson was brought down inside the box in the 55th minute.

Despite the shortcomings in the East Bengal camp, Kazma found the going tough in the hot and humid conditions.

The winning goal eluded them till the fag end of the match, when Al-Azmi's brilliant shot was enough to beat East Bengal goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh.