Bengaluru FC enter Durand Cup knockouts with 2-2 draw against FC Goa

Bengaluru FC Media

Sunil Chhetri and Sivasakthi Narayanan were on target for Bengaluru FC in a 2-2 draw against FC Goa, in a Group A encounter of the 2022 Durand Cup at the Vivekananda Yuva Bharati Krirangan, in Kolkata, on Tuesday. The Blues, who took a two-goal lead into the break, came up against a resilient Goa side in the second period, who drew level through strikes from Phrangki Buam and Lesly Rebello.

Earlier, Blues’ Head Coach Simon Grayson handed starts to goalkeeper Amrit Gope and Prince Ibara as summer signing Javi Hernandez joined Jayesh Rane on the bench. Bengaluru had won their opening two matches of the tournament against Jamshedpur FC (2-1) and Indian Air Force FT (4-0), and needed just a point to attain an unassailable lead in the group.

 

Bengaluru started strong and controlled proceedings for much of the opening minutes before Ibara pulled up with an injury, forcing Grayson into making an early change, replacing the Congolese international with Narayanan.

The Blues opened the scoring through skipper Chhetri, who dispatched an inch-perfect free-kick past Goa custodian Hrithik Tiwari in the 24th minute to make it 1-0. Only moments later, Sivasakthi doubled the Bengaluru lead, tapping home a knock-down from Udanta Singh after Bruno Ramires had found the winger in the box with a ball over the Goa defense.

 

Bengaluru took the 2-0 lead into the break and came out with one more change in personnel as Jayesh Rane marked his return from injury, replacing Ramires. Grayson’s side had several chances to add to their lead within minutes of the restart, but efforts from Parag Shrivas, Danish Farooq and Sivasakthi were dealt with by the visitors.

 

Against the run of play, Goa pulled one back when Rohit Kumar’s stray pass found winger Phrangki, who rounded Gope and slotted home to make it 2-1. Rohit almost made amends at the other end, when he ran onto Sivasakthi’s pass and got a shot away but Tiwari pushed it onto the woodwork with a fantastic save.

 

Goa scored the equalizer just past the hour mark when Amrit failed to deal with a cross from the right, allowing Lesly Rebello to slot home from close range to make it 2-2. Bengaluru made further changes, with Hernandez, Faisal Ali and Leon Augustine making their way onto the pitch.

 

Bengaluru pushed forward in search of a winner, but it wasn’t to be as the visitors held fort to see out the rest of the encounter. The Blues next face Group A leaders Mohammedan SC at the same venue, on August 2nd.

Bengaluru take on FC Goa in Durand Cup semifinal

Bengaluru FC Media

Bengaluru FC Coach Naushad Moosa said his young side is confident of putting in a good performance when they take on FC Goa in the Durand Cup semifinal, at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan, in Kolkata, on Wednesday.

“The players do not have any pressure going into this game as they fully understand their roles and responsibilities now. FC Goa came here with a full squad, and it was the same with Kerala Blasters too. We know how good Goa is as a team. It won’t be an easy game, but we’ll step onto the pitch with the objective of making things difficult for them. The boys are really positive, and I just want them to play freely, express themselves and fight till the end,” said Moosa, speaking to the press ahead of the semifinal.

FC Goa come into the game winning all their group stage matches before defeating Delhi FC 5-1 in the quarterfinals. With 14 goals scored and just two conceded, Goa’s attacking and defensive prowess are a force to be reckoned with, and Moosa believes his side will have to be on top of their game if they are to come away with a positive result.

“Our approach to the game will not be very different from the way we have been playing so far. The only thing we have to be very careful about is the way we have been conceding first. While we have shown good character to fight back and win, it will not be easy to do that against Goa if we concede early,” Moosa added.

While the game is set for an evening kickoff, making it easier for the teams to play, Moosa believes that it serves as an even advantage. “In terms of humidity and heat, the 6 pm kickoff will really help the players. We played our games at 3 pm and then 2 pm so far, and it was difficult for the boys to adapt. You can see how the evening game allowed Mohammedan SC and FC Bengaluru United to play more freely in the other semifinal. While it will help us, I am sure it’s the same for Goa. The conditions are favourable for both teams to play with a good tempo, and it should be a good match,” said Moosa.

Kickoff between Bengaluru FC and FC Goa is at 6 pm on Wednesday, September 29th, and will be live on Ten Sports, and the AddaTimes website and app. The winner in this encounter will face Mohammedan in the final.