BENGALURU FC, THE ‘BLUE’ FAIRYTALE, MARCHED ONTO AFC CUP ROUND OF 16 WITH FLYING COLOURS
NEW DELHI: The day is gone when the IT city people go berserk about Hero I-League, even the Blues have flipped the page of Federation Cup which they clinched recently, having added another feather in their cap. In comes the International stage, the Acid Test of the toddler who sends out a strong message to other Asian powerhouses in the likes of Al-Jazeera, Al-Kuwait and Perispura Jayapura.
While the media and fans went gaga over their exemplary success on their debut season, the gaffer Ashley Westwood had an extensive plan at the back of his mind. He had come down to India not just to sign off with the league, but to write their name on stone, to propagate the Blues’ name beyond the border. The uphill task, ‘AFC Cup’, was neither a walk in the park nor an uncanny one and it could be accomplished eventually with sheer training and astute planning; Westwood is armed with adequate ammos in his arsenal.
Bengaluru FC kicked off their 2014-15 season on a high note while they tucked away first silverware of the season, Federation Cup. Come last week of February, the Blues started off their voyage-de-AFC Cup against Maziya. The Asian newcomers pipped their fellow rivals by an impregnable 2-1 margin. Their ship got shaken a little against Perispura, the intimidating Indonesian club. Bengaluru FC fell short and could not avoid a scruffy 1-3 defeat. Ashley Westwood, the street smart manager, was successful to inculcate the ‘steel-nerve’ mentality among his boys who reciprocated strongly within seven days and ousted the Singaporean Warriors. Thanks to Joshua Walker whose immaculate penalty earned all three important points for his team, no matter what, the points came after 90 minutes of no less than blood and iron fisticuffs.
After a hiatus of almost one month, Bengaluru FC took on Warriors in Singapore at their own backyard. Despite hitting the ground amidst strong support for the opponents, the Indian powerhouse showed no sign of sluggishness and muscled a victory owing to Robin Singh who scribbled his name in the score sheet. Perispura has been the outright winner in the group who thwarted every single opponent and already put one step in the knockout stage. The speculation was on, how could Westwood encash the situation? Amid huge calculation and scrutiny, Bengaluru FC departed for Maldives.
Kingfisher East Bengal, who almost penned a fairy tale last year while drifted to AFC Cup semi-final, were warming up for their AFC Cup faceoff to stay buoyed in the tourney. Home fans, the real 12th men, were behind the Red & Gold. Perispura was smacking goal after goal and Warriors were gasping to come out of the catastrophe. Maziya S&RC smote on the hour-mark, thanks to Pablo Rodriguez. Bengaluru FC attack fell astray, their game was going haywire and shambolic.
Westwood, captain cool, introduced Joshua Walker and newest hunk of Indian football Eugensen Lyngdoh just 25 minutes to the final whistle. The fresh pair of legs left Maziya defenders perplexed, they were trapped within 5 minutes. Veteran Sunil Chhetri kept his cool and slotted it home from the 6 yard box. Blues unnerved MaziyaS&RC with plethora of attacking moves, albeit the finishing touch was eluding them. 12 minutes to the whistle, Sunil Chhetri found the net. The stadium became absolutely numb, so as the home players.
The IT city heroes are poised at a crucial juncture where creating history by winning successive I-League trophies within first 2 years of seeing the daylight is not a daydream, rather an enigma for rest of the Indian clubs who are yet to adopt the rule of thumb. The gate pass to AFC Cup Round of 16 is nothing less than a historical chapter of the enviable football book of Bengaluru FC. There isn’t any room for complacency as the final round robin match against daunting Perispura is left. A draw would be enough for the Singaporean outfit to fix a date with Pahang, otherwise they have to settle with mighty South China. Hence, they would leave no stone unturned against the Blues to avoid South China, unarguably the weightier opponent between them. Westwood, who has proven his credibility time and again, has to draw an ace up his sleeve to outplay the antagonist. May the Blues get pluckier and mightier with time, may the Blues represent India in bigger and broader stage.
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hero i -league
East Bengal 0-1 Johor Darul Ta'zim FC: The Red and Golds crash out of the AFC Cup
Eelco Schattorie once again fielded his reserve side who put up a brave display but were beaten by a resilient Malaysia
In a rain marred encounter at the Salt Lake Stadium, East Bengal were beaten by Johor Darul Ta'zim FC by a solitary goal scored by Mohammed Amri Yahyah in the 7th minute in an AFC Cup Group F encounter.
The home side started with Baldeep Singh and Baljit Singh Sahni upfront while Dhanarajan Radhakrishnan was given a debut as he started on the left side of defense.
The group leaders meanwhile had Luciano Figueroa deployed upfront ably supported by Mohd. Amri Yahyah playing just off the big Argentinian in front. Hariss Harun, the Singapore international took up position on the left side of midfield.
The away side only had to wait a mere seven minutes before they registered themselves on the scoresheet. On the counter-attack, Hariss Harun sprinted down the left and slipped in a delightful cross towards Amri who had a regulation tap in, with the defenders and the goalkeeper completely beaten.
Just moments before this, Amri had smashed a volley just wide from the left, while Figueroa was inches wide of scoring in the opening exchanges as Mohd. Safiq Rahim had slid in a lovely through ball but good goalkeeping from Luis Barreto meant that he blocked the shot.
The home side started with Baldeep Singh and Baljit Singh Sahni upfront while Dhanarajan Radhakrishnan was given a debut as he started on the left side of defense.
The group leaders meanwhile had Luciano Figueroa deployed upfront ably supported by Mohd. Amri Yahyah playing just off the big Argentinian in front. Hariss Harun, the Singapore international took up position on the left side of midfield.
The away side only had to wait a mere seven minutes before they registered themselves on the scoresheet. On the counter-attack, Hariss Harun sprinted down the left and slipped in a delightful cross towards Amri who had a regulation tap in, with the defenders and the goalkeeper completely beaten.
Just moments before this, Amri had smashed a volley just wide from the left, while Figueroa was inches wide of scoring in the opening exchanges as Mohd. Safiq Rahim had slid in a lovely through ball but good goalkeeping from Luis Barreto meant that he blocked the shot.
With both teams continuing to play in the heavy downpour, the referee decided to suspend play at the half hour mark when heavy thunder and lightning struck the area.
After the restart about an hour later, it was East Bengal who amped up the tempo with Baldeep Singh almost managing to poke home the rebound in the 40th minute, after goalkeeper Faizal Marlias could only parry the ball from a Sukhwinder Singh shot that had changed course after taking a deflection.
After the restart about an hour later, it was East Bengal who amped up the tempo with Baldeep Singh almost managing to poke home the rebound in the 40th minute, after goalkeeper Faizal Marlias could only parry the ball from a Sukhwinder Singh shot that had changed course after taking a deflection.
The second half began in a similar vein with the Red and Golds enjoying the lion's share of the possession.
In the 57th minute, Faizal displayed his nerves again when he almost allowed Raju Gaikwad to pounce from a Joaquim Abranches whipped cross from the right but caught it on the second attempt.
A minute later, a controversial offside call spoiled the party for the Red and Golds after Sukhwinder Singh had played a lovely through ball behind the defense with Mohammed Rafique only having the goalkeeper to beat but the flag was raised.
In the 57th minute, Faizal displayed his nerves again when he almost allowed Raju Gaikwad to pounce from a Joaquim Abranches whipped cross from the right but caught it on the second attempt.
A minute later, a controversial offside call spoiled the party for the Red and Golds after Sukhwinder Singh had played a lovely through ball behind the defense with Mohammed Rafique only having the goalkeeper to beat but the flag was raised.
Ranti Martin's introduction too did not get Eelco Schattorie the elusive equaliser as the Nigerian was well marked by the towering Eldestal in defense.
Figueroa had a chance in the dying minutes to bury the game beyond doubt after Jamaluddin had slid a ball through but a perfectly timed sliding tackle from Deepak Mondal averted the danger.
Figueroa had a chance in the dying minutes to bury the game beyond doubt after Jamaluddin had slid a ball through but a perfectly timed sliding tackle from Deepak Mondal averted the danger.
The win takes JDT to 12 points from 5 matches ensuring qualification while East Bengal crash out with only four points from as many matches.
Maziya S & RC 1-2 Bengaluru FC: A Chhetri double sees the Blues ensure AFC Cup progress
The champions of India made it through to the last 16 of the AFC Cup with the skipper leading the Blues comeback...
Sunil Chhetri scored twice (71', 78') to lead Bengaluru FC to a 2-1 win over Maziya S & RC in an AFC Cup fixture at the Rasmee Dhandu Stadium in Malé, Maldives, on Tuesday. Pablo Rodriguez had handed the Maldivian side the lead in the 60th minute.
Maziya started with Spanish striker, Rodriguez in attack who was accompanied by Mohamed Hussain Niyaz and Ahmed Nishad upfront.
Meanwhile Bengaluru coach Ashley Westwood made six changes to his side from the 2-0 victory against Bharat FC in the I-League. Keegan Pereira, Thoi Singh, Siam Hanghal, Udanta Singh, Robin Singh and Sunil Chhetri started in place of Lalchhuanmawia, Shankar Sampingiraj, C.K. Vineeth, Eugeneson Lyngdoh, Sean Rooney and Beikhokhei Beingaichho.
The away side had their first pop at goal as Hanghal sent his shot wide in the eighth minute after being found by Josh Walker. Two minutes later, Maziya could have taken the lead through Samdhooh Mohamed's free-kick, but Pablo Rodriguez could only head it wide.
It was a Blues barrage from then on as skipper Chhetri headed a Rino Anto cross over the crossbar in the 17th minute with Robin Singh following suit, slashing his volley wide off target.
Chhetri fired another header wide after he was set up once again by Anto while Robin Singh possibly wasted the best chance so far as he hit the post from yet another Anto delivery in the 31st minute.
In spite of their dominance, Benglauru went into the half without anything to show for their troubles, with goalkeeper Imran Mohammed pulling off a couple of smart saves late in the half to deny Udanta and Chhetri.
The home side began the second half with an attacking disposition as the Blues custodian, Lalchuanmawia Ralte was called into action in the 52nd minute to parry Pablo's shot away from goal while Samdhooh shot wide in the next minute.
In spite of their dominance, Benglauru went into the half without anything to show for their troubles, with goalkeeper Imran Mohammed pulling off a couple of smart saves late in the half to deny Udanta and Chhetri.
The home side began the second half with an attacking disposition as the Blues custodian, Lalchuanmawia Ralte was called into action in the 52nd minute to parry Pablo's shot away from goal while Samdhooh shot wide in the next minute.
Maziya eventually broke the deadlock on the hour mark after Pablo managed to tap home Samdhooh's cross, with Ralte well beaten.
However, Westwood's side had to wait only ten minutes for the equaliser as Bengaluru were awarded a penalty after Rooney's cross struck Mohamed Saaif's hand in the box. Chhetri had no trouble as he smashed his shot in from the spot, sending Imran the wrong way.
Chhetri completed his brace in the 78th minute as he smashed home a first time volley after Udanta Singh had found the skipper with a chip over the Maziya defense. This was all inititated by Rooney who had seen an unmarked Udanta in plenty of space.
Bengaluru got close on two more occasions to increase their margin of victory, but Lyngdoh's shot from the rival box was parried out by Imran before Rooney saw his snapshot go wide in the 90th minute.
The victory allowed the Indian side to move to 12 points from 5 matches which guarantees progression, with group leaders Persipura merely a point above them. The final round will see the Blues host Persipura at home to decide who tops the group.
The victory allowed the Indian side to move to 12 points from 5 matches which guarantees progression, with group leaders Persipura merely a point above them. The final round will see the Blues host Persipura at home to decide who tops the group.
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hero i -league
| Saturday 2 May 2015 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16:30 |  Shillong Lajong | v |  Dempo | |
| 19:00 |  Mumbai | v |  Mohun Bagan | |
| 19:00 |  Sporting Goa | v |  Bharat FC | |
| Sunday 3 May 2015 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16:30 |  Royal Wahingdoh | v |  Salgaocar | |
| 19:00 |  Bengaluru | v |  East Bengal | |
| Tuesday 5 May 2015 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19:00 | Bharat FC | v | Mohun Bagan | |
| Friday 8 May 2015 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16:30 | Shillong Lajong | v | Bengaluru | |
| RA | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  McDowell's Mohun Bagan | 31 |
| 2 |  Bengaluru FC | 28 |
| 3 |  Royal Wahingdoh FC | 27 |
| 4 |  Kingfisher East Bengal | 26 |
| 5 |  Pune FC | 23 |
| 6 |  Salgaocar FC | 17 |
| 7 |  Dempo Sports Club | 16 |
| 8 |  Mumbai FC | 16 |
| 9 |  Shillong Lajong FC | 13 |
| 10 |  Kalyani Bharat FC | 12 |
| 11 |  Sporting Clube de Goa | 11 |
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