AFC Cup semifinal: Bengaluru FC scripts historic win

by Chittu Shetty October 19, 2016

A Historic achievement by Bengaluru FC as they become the first club in Indian football history to reach the finals of AFC Cup after compressively beating defending champions Johor Darul Ta’zim of Malaysia 4-2 on Aggregate.

After drawing the first leg of the semi-finals in Malaysia 1-1 thanks to a brilliant Eugeneson strike, Bengaluru FC Boosted by the raucous home support came out all guns blazing in the second leg, winning 3-1 in the match and 4-2 on aggregate to proceed to the final.

Safiq Rahim had the put the visitors 1-0 ahead in the 11th minute but Sunil Chhetri once again proved why he is the most valued player of this country, scoring two goals; one came as an equalizer while the other a stunning effort from outside the box to put BFC in the lead.  Minutes after taking the lead, a header from Juan sealed the game for Bengaluru FC as they went 3-1 up and 4-2 on aggregate. BFC will now face Iraq’s Air Force Club in the final on November 5.

With an away goal advantage in hand, blues didn’t go for the defensive approach as Coach Albert Roca started with an attacking 4-3-3 formation. Amrinder Singh between the sticks was supported by Juanan and John Johnson at the central defense, while Rino Anto and the young Nishu Kumar started at the flanks. Cameron Watson, Alvaro Rubio and Eugeneson Lyngdoh manned the midfield. Sunil Chhetri, CK Vineeth and Alwyn George shared the attacking responsibilities. For Johor, Mario Gomez made three changes as Zainal, Safee Sali and Kunanlal started into the first eleven with Lucero and Diaz suspended.

The game began with Bengaluru attacking from the word go. Keeping possession intact, Blues looked to attack through flanks, Rino anto taking couple of shots that went wide. Against the run of play, in the 11^th minute, Visitors took the lead, when Safi Sali beat Johnson and shot a thunderous strike that saw the Amrinder’s save ballooning up and towards goal, allowing captain Rahim to just nod the ball in on the Goal line.

With the away goal advantage gone, Bengaluru turned up the heat and their relentless attack resulted in the corner around half hour mark. Lyngdoh’s corner was deflected away by keeper off Johnson’s header, the resulting corner saw fanatical commotion inside the box that ended with the blues skipper hitting the crossbar of an open chance at the far post.

Also Read: AFC Cup Semifinal second leg: Preview- Bengaluru FC (Ind) vs. Johar Darul Tazim (Mal)

Chhetri’s struck a wonderful goal from outside the box

While Johor looked out of sorts rarely making a successful move inside Blues box, Bengaluru seemed most dangerous during set pieces, and that’s exactly how the equalizer came. Around the 40^th minute, Lyngdoh’s corner saw Chhetri jump the highest as his guiding header went into the far corner sending the home fans into ruptures. Both sides went into the break with scores leveled 1-1.

Unlike first half were JDT sat back and looked to score on counter, Second half started with JDT looking to attack and minutes after the break, Amirul after a quick one-two with Azrif had an opportunity but Amrinder came off his line to collect the ball.

In the 48^th minutes, Chhetri had an opportunity to take the lead after Vineeth played in the unmarked skipper, but the captain looking to curl it in, skied his shot over the bar. After a period of lost opportunities where both sides failed to convert their chances, Blues took the lead in the 66^th minute, when Chhetri, after making some space for himself, scored though a rasping shot from outside the box to beat the keeper and stun the Johor side, sending the Bengaluru crowd in to frenzy.

With a slender one goal lead in hand, Bengaluru didn’t sit back as they knew an equalizer would have been enough for the visitors to crash the home side out of the competition. And so in the 75^th minute, a free kick from Lyngdoh saw Juan score his first goal for blues as the lead doubled to 3-1.

Although Johor tried their best to score in the remaining minutes of the game, Bengaluru defended resolutely as the game ended with score 3-1 in favour of home side.

An historic achievement for the club and Indian football alike, as Bengaluru became the first to reach the finals of an Asian competition. Blues will now face Air Force FC of Iraq in the finals on November 5 in Doha.

Score:

Bengaluru FC 3 (Chhetri 40’, 66’ Juan 75’) – 1 Johor Darul tazim (Rahim 11’),

Blues though to finals with 4-2 on aggregate