Mumbai: A delicate nudge by Namgyal Bhutia put the ball past an FC Goa defender to give himself the luxury of time and space on the right side of the opposition box. Bhutia looked up to spot a teammate and measured in a cross.
In the centre, Bengaluru FC’s Sunil Chhetri, the evergreen poacher of Indian football, waited patiently. He took a few sharp steps towards goal before diving forward and heading the cross into an empty FC Goa net for his 14th goal of the season, in the 92nd minute.
They lost the match 2-1 on Sunday, in the second leg of the Indian Super League semi-final at the Fatorda Stadium in Goa, but managed to win the tie 3-2 and moved into their fourth ISL Cup final.
The visitors travelled to Goa carrying with them a 2-0 lead after the first leg win at the Kanteerava Stadium on Wednesday. That lead had been cancelled out after an excellent Borja Herrera freekick in the 49th minute and a perfectly placed header by Armando Sadiku in the 88th.
But in the dying embers of an entertaining match, while most of the players faded under the hot and humid conditions at Fatorda, Bengaluru FC’s second half substitutes Ryan Williams and Chhetri wreaked havoc.
“The reality is that Ryan, (Alberto) Noguera, Suresh (Wangjam), Rahul (Bheke)… they were all really tired after the first leg,” explained Bengaluru FC coach Gerard Zaragoza in a post-match interview with the broadcaster. “We wanted to keep Ryan on the bench to explore the space in the second half with Sunil.”
The Bengaluru machine did get the job done, but they were made to work very hard for the win.
FC Goa were arguably the better team over the two halves, creating more chances and keeping the opposition on the backfoot. But they failed to capitalise on most of those attempts – off the 21 crosses they attempted in the first half alone, only three reached the intended target.
Staunch defending by Bengaluru FC, and a miraculous (with a touch of fortune) double save from goalkeeper Gupreet Singh Sandhu in the 69th minute kept the visitors in the tie.
The 2018-19 season’s champions are now a win away from a second ISL Cup title. Their final opponents will be either Mohun Bagan or Jamshedpur FC with the second leg of the semis to be played in Kolkata on Monday. Jamshedpur won 2-1 in the first leg at home.
