AFC Cup semis: Blues hold JDT 1-1 after Eugeneson wonder strike

by Chittu Shetty September 28, 2016

Blues come home with an important away goal advantage Pic courtesy: Bengaluru FC

Eugeneson Lyngdoh with a superb left foot strike gets Blues on level terms after Pereyra Diaz gave JDT the opener.

The Blues fielded Indian forwards C.K. Vineeth and team captain Sunil Chhetri along with all four of their foreign players at the start of the match while Salam Ranjan Singh started in place of Nishu Kumar. JDT on the other hand began their match with all four of their foreign players and key players with just Azrif Nasrulhaq coming at the right back position in place of S. Kunalan.

Blues started confidently foraying into their opponents half repeatedly; a fifth minute corner resulted in johnson’s flick just sailing over the bar. The first 20 minutes was clearly dominated by the away team as JDT were not able to register any significant chances.

In the 21st minute, a dangerous cross from the right by Azammuddin Akil was headed away from the Bengaluru box, and the ball fell into the path of Diaz, who wasted the opportunity hitting the ball wide of target. Pressure seemed to build up on JDT coach as in the 25th minute; he was warned by the referee for stepping outside the bounds of his technical area.

A golden opportunity in the 27^th minute for JDT was denied by the bengaluru Custodian after Juan Martin Lucero’s pinpoint header was well palmed away for corner by Amrinder Singh. Soon, Marcos Antonio went into the referee’s book for a foul on Rino.

JDT slowly came into the game as Bengaluru started to misplace their passes. Minutes before the break, Lucero missed two back-to-back chances, after receiving a well-weighted through pass by Diaz. In the dying seconds of first half injury time, Salam Ranjan Singh was then booked for a foul on Diaz. The resulting free kick was easily kept away and fell into feet of Sunil Chhetri, whose counter attack run was denied by the whistle. Blues players seemed agitated with the decision as an opportunity was missed to go forward.

Second half resumed with the first chance coming to JDT, after Diaz was released by Hariss’s through pass with only the keeper to beat only for his attempt to be weak and too close to Amrinder. Minutes later, Chhetri tried a shot from the edge of the box but it went straight to Izham.

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In the 52^nd minute JDT finally got the breakthrough, when a poor marking from blues defence allowed Diaz to head home a Safiq Rahim corner. Diaz was soon booked for a clumsy challenge on Blues defender Juanan, who was also booked for his reaction.

With a goal down, Blues once again started to attack and in the 55th minute, Eugeneson Lyngdoh struck a wonderful shot with his left foot from outside the box that easily beat the keeper to go in the top far corner.

In the 75^th minute, JDT Coach Gomez brought in veteran striker Amri Yahyah to stir things up and get back a lead, only for the striker to pick up a yellow seconds in to the game.

With an away goal advantage and the game heading for a draw, Roca seemed to look for a goal, as he had tiring Vineeth replaced with another forward Daniel Lalhlimpuia.

The game ended with 1-1 score line as neither team managed to get a breakthrough. The Defending champions now face an uphill task for the second leg, which will be played in Bengaluru on Oct. 19. Furthermore, JDT would be having a huge disadvantage of missing their strike force for second leg after both their Argentinian strike duo, Diaz and Lucero picked up yellow cards in consecutive games.

JDT  : Izham Tarmizi (GK), Azammuddin Akil (Amri Yahyah 75′), Azrif Nazrulhaq, Marcos Antonio, Aidil Zafuan, Safiq Rahim (C) (Amirul Hadi Zainal 83′), Jorge Pereyra Díaz, Hariss Harun, Fazly Mazlan, Juan Martin Lucero, Azinee Taib (S. Chanturu 68′).

Bengaluru: Amrinder Singh (GK), Juan Antonio, John Johnson, Álvaro Rubio, Sunil Chhetri (C), Rino Anto, Eugeneson Lyngdoh (Beikhokhei Beingaichho 90+’), Alwyn George (Vishal Kumar 68′), Salam Ranjan Singh, Cameron Watson, C.K. Vineeth (Daniel Lalhlimpuia 77′)

JDT (Pereyez Diaz 53’) 1 – 1 Bengaluru FC (Eugeneson 57’)

Second Leg:  October 19,

Kanteerva Stadium, Bengaluru, India