East Bengal FC will face the top-division Turkmeni League champions FK Arkadag in the AFC Challenge League 2024-25 quarter-final. East Bengal advanced to the knock-out after beating Nejmeh SC by 3-2 as they became the Group A champions. On the other hand, Arkadag has qualified for the knock-outs as the Group B winners.

🚨East Bengal FC will face Arkadag FC in quarter-finals of AFC Challenge League

March 5th, Kolkata
🇮🇳 East Bengal vs 🇹🇲 Arkadag

March 12th, Ashgabat
🇹🇲 Arkadag vs 🇮🇳 East Bengal#IndianFootball #EastBengal pic.twitter.com/6VIzkBgx8S

— IFTWC - Indian Football (@IFTWC) November 2, 2024

The battle of the winners will take place in two legs in March 2025. The first leg will be East Bengal's home match at the VYBK in Kolkata on 5 March 2025. Arkadag will host East Bengal on 12 March 2025 for the return leg at the Nusay Stadium in Ashgabat.

Pathway to the Quarter-final 

East Bengal FC

East Bengal may have been thriving to survive in the Indian Super League after losing 6 out of 6 games, but they are up and running in the AFC Challenge League under the newly appointed head coach Oscar Bruzon. 

The Red and Gold Brigade started their AFC Challenge League campaign with a 2-2 draw against Paro FC, the Bhutan Premier League champions. Later, East Bengal earned their first win of the season fiercely against Basundhara Kings, thrashing them by 4-0. 

🔝 effort from the boys! ❤️💛#JoyEastBengal #ChallengeLeague #EBFCInAsia pic.twitter.com/jDuCOd8jxz

— East Bengal FC (@eastbengal_fc) November 2, 2024

To conclude their group-stage adventure, East Bengal FC defeated Lebanese side Nejmeh SC by 3-2 to confirm their knock-out qualification. Oscar Bruzon's men finished on top of Group A with 7 points in 3 matches and they are looking for another Asian glory. 

FK Arkadag 

FK Arkadag was founded in April 2023, but they have consecutively won two league titles in 2023 and 2024 to become the undisputed champions of Turkmenistan. 

Arkadag topped their group as well, and advanced to knock-outs as the Group B winners with 6 points in 3 matches. 

🇹🇲 All-conquering Arkadag have failed to win a match for the first time in their history, after 61 competitive victories in a row since 1 April 2023.

The club were founded by Turkmenistan's former dictator Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov but have faced allegations of match-rigging. pic.twitter.com/JqhY98lVQQ

— The Sweeper (@SweeperPod) November 1, 2024

The Turkmen champions commenced their journey by defeating Maziya Sports of Maldives by 2-1. They went on to defeat FC Abdysh-Ata by 2-0 in their second match. However, Arkadag lost their final group game by 2-3 against Kuwaiti side Al Arabi SC but proceeded as the group winners. 

Hello and welcome to another live coverage of the Indian Super League 2024-25. Tonight, we will be covering the Kolkata Derby between the historic rivals  East Bengal and Mohammedan, set to kick off at 7:30 PM IST at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata. 

Build Up

East Bengal is back from their continental duties after qualifying in the quarter-final of the AFC Challenge League 2024-25. But the Red and Gold Brigade have lost every ISL game they played this season including the prestigious Kolkata Derby against Mohun Bagan SG. Currently, East Bengal is 13th in the league table with zero points in 6 matches. East Bengal's new coach Oscar Bruzon will be on a hunt for three points and mark a statement win. 

Mohammedan SC has been in a tumultuous situation in the last couple of weeks as they have lost three straight matches in the ISL 2024-25. After earning 4 points in the first 3 matches, things went wrong for the Black Panthers. They are currently standing at the 12th position with 4 points in 6 matches; just one step above East Bengal. Coach Chernyshov needs to get his team back on track and earn their first point after the 1-0 victory over Chennaiyin. 

Read the full match preview here:

ISL 2024-25 | East Bengal vs Mohammedan SC Match Preview: Head-to-head Stats, Previous Records

As the high-voltage encounter is approaching tonight, keep an eye on the match as we bring you all the real-time updates, team news, and live scores of the East Bengal FC vs Mohammedan SC in the Indian Super League 2024-25. 

This is Soumit Bhattacharya, who will bring you all the updates of the match from the web desk.

Indian Super League 2024-25 will set the stage for the third Kolkata Derby this season as East Bengal and Mohammedan will face off for the first time in ISL. The historic rivals are about to set the field on fire at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in the 'City of Joy' Kolkata tonight as the match will kick off at 7:30 PM IST.

East Bengal are completely cornered in the ISL this season, having lost every game they played and currently standing at the 13th position in the league table. The Red and Gold Brigade are yet to earn a point in the ISL this season; but they have qualified for the inaugural AFC Challenge League 2024-25 Quarter-finals under the new head coach Oscar Bruzon. 

Now it is high time for Bruzon and his team to open their account in the league as well. East Bengal will surely not settle for a draw but they will go all out for all three points to make a statement win, and there is no better game to do so than in the Kolkata Derby.

Read Also | AFC Challenge League 2024-25 Quarter-finals | East Bengal FC will face FK Arkadag

On the other hand, Mohammedan SC is not in a much different situation than East Bengal as they have been defeated in their last three ISL outings, including a 0-3 defeat against another city rival Mohun Bagan SG. In the first three matches, the Black Panthers earned 4 points but it all went downhill in the last three matches. 

The 2023-24 I League champions, and ISL debutants this season are currently standing in the 12th position in the league table with 4 points in 6 matches. Head coach Andrey Chernyshov will look to break their losing streak and get back on track.

Match Details:

Match: East Bengal FC vs Mohammedan Sporting Club

Date: 9 November 2024

Time: 7.30 pm IST

Venue: Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan, Kolkata. 

Streaming Details:

Fans of both teams can watch the match between East Bengal vs Mohammedan SC in ISL 2024-25 on Sports 18 3 TV Channel and Jio Cinema App and website.

Team News: East Bengal FC

Key center-back Hector Yuste who suffered a groin injury in the AFC Challenge League campaign, will be sidelined for an unknown period. Mark Zothanpuia is still recovering from an injury and he will be out as well. Provat Lakra will miss the game due to card issues. Coach Oscar Bruzon will have the rest of the squad to take on Mohammedan. 

All eyes 👀 on our first #ISL meeting with Mohammedan! 📸 (2/2)#JoyEastBengal #EBFCMSC pic.twitter.com/PZsL4wmY8c

— East Bengal FC (@eastbengal_fc) November 8, 2024

Team News: Mohammedan SC

Coach Andrey Chernyshov will have the full squad at his disposal to field the best eleven to take on East Bengal. There is no reported news of injury or absence for Mohammedan except Abdul Mohammed Kadiri, the new signing who is out for the whole season. 

Giving it all before #EBFCMSC ⚔️⚡️#EBFCMSC #ISL #MohammedanSC #JaanJaanMohammedan #JaanShaanImaanDilMeinMohammedan pic.twitter.com/dFMPhf0ti0

— Mohammedan SC (@MohammedanSC) November 9, 2024

Head-to-head Stats

Tonight is the first time these two long-standing rivals will face each other in the Indian Super League.

However, East Bengal and Mohammedan have met at the national level in various competitions such as the I League, Durand Cup, Federation Cup, and National Football League (predecessor of I League). Here are the Head-to-head stats of national-level encounters between these two teams since the year 1985.

Matches Played: 15

East Bengal wins: 11

Mohammedan SC wins: 1

Draws: 3

Previous Records 

Here are the records of the previous matches between these teams in different tournaments since 1985:

East Bengal Football Club has announced Oscar Bruzon, the former Basundhara Kings head coach as the successor of Carles Cuadrat, till the end of the current season. Bruzon had a successful stint in Bangladesh, winning 5 consecutive Bangladesh Premier League titles with the Kings.

Oscar Bruzon, a former winger for Gran Peña, Celta B, Universidad LP and Pontevedra CF during his playing days, started his managerial career with the youth teams of Areosa and Celta de Vigo. Then he managed Sporting Clube de Goa in 2012 and took them to the 2013-14 Goa Professional League title.

Bruzon's experience in India and Asia

Burzon's experience in India was extended with a spell with Mumbai City FC, as their assistant coach in 2015-16 ISL and Mumbai FC’s Head Coach in the 2017 I-League. His winning mentality helped Maldives’ New Radiant SC win the Dhivehi Premier League, the Maldives FA Cup, the President’s Cup and the Maldivian FA Charity Shield during his first season as the coach.

Read Also | AFC Cup Exclusive | Worst pitch, fans in the mixed zone, racist comments: Bashundhara Kings and Dhaka are not ready for "football" yet

In Bangladesh, Bruzon became the most successful coach in the Bangladesh Premier League history. He won 94 times in 114 matches and lost only 7 seven games in seven seasons with the Basundhara Kings. Along with his 5 consecutive Bangladesh Premier League titles, Bruzon won 3 Independence Cup and 3 Federation Cup titles with the Kings.

In 2021, he was also named the interim Head Coach of the Bangladesh men's football team. 

Bruzon also gas has a great record in the AFC tournaments, winning 11 out of his 19 AFC Cup games with the club. Upon joining the Kolkata giants, who lost the last four games in ISL 2024-25, Bruzon said,  “I am determined to make the most of this 
opportunity, being fully aware of the goals set by the Emami East Bengal management. It’s a privilege and massive responsibility to manage a historical institution like East Bengal.”

Hello and welcome to another live coverage of the Indian Super League 2024-25 as we bring you live updates of East Bengal vs FC Goa match at Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata.

Buildup

The Red and Gold brigade will look to earn their first points of the league in their first home fixture of the season. The Ultras faced two tough defeats against Bengaluru FC and Kerala Blasters FC in the first two games of the season. Meantime, Manolo Marquez'es team could only manage one point from the two games so far. The Gaurs faced a defeat against Jamshedpur FC and then drew against Mohammedan Sporting Club in matchweek number 2. 

FC Goa have always dominated the team from Kolkata in 9 games they have faced eachother. They have won five times and scored in eight games against East Bengal. Meantime, East Bengal won twice and have drawn two times as well.

This is Koushik Biswas with the buildup for you. Later Soumit Bhattacharya will bring you all the real-time updates of the match from our web desk.

Moreover, you can follow us on Twitter for all the updates. Join our Telegram and WhatsApp channels to get all the news and scores.