Syria Cup holders Al Jaish trounced National Football League champions East Bengal 3-0 on aggregate to move into the semi-finals of the inaugural AFC Cup football tournament.
The Syrian army side, who were held to a goalless draw by East Bengal in the first leg in Kolkata last week, made amends in the second leg match at Damascus by romping to a 3-0 win over the Indian club on Wednesday.
Al Jaish took an early lead through Adel Abdullah, who found the net in the 16th minute, heading past Bengal goalkeeper Rajat Ghosh Dastidar.
The first half did not see any more goals as both teams failed to create openings. East Bengal's efforts to restore parity were thwarted by the home team defence, marshalled by their skipper Tareq Jabban.
But the change of ends saw Al Jaish growing in confidence as they doubled their lead five minutes after the break with Mohammed Zeino scoring following a fast counter attack.
The red and gold brigade had one clear chance to reduce the margin on the hour mark but Brazilian Douglas Da Silva saw his curling free-kick fisted away by Syrian goalkeeper Radwan Al Azwar for a corner kick.
Four minutes later, Syrian international Ziad Shaabo blasted a powerful strike that beat substitute goalkeeper Sangram Mukherjee, but came back off the post.
Shortly afterwards action shifted to the other end as Douglas, who was East Bengal's best player in the match, headed a ball towards goal but he was also denied by the crossbar.
Al Jaish sealed their victory three minutes from the end of the regulation time when Firas Ismail netted his team's third goal.
The Syrian club team, who joined their compatriots Al Wahda, will take on Home United in the semi-finals after the Singaporeans got past Lebanon's Olympic Beirut 5-4 on aggregate in another quarter-final tie.
Both AFC Cup semi-finals will be Singapore versus Syria clashes. Geylang United will take on Al Wahda on October 19 and 26, while Home United meet Al Jaish on October 20 and 27.
