All to play for as Bengaluru face Bashundhara Kings in Malé

Bengaluru FC Media 

Bengaluru FC Head Coach Marco Pezzaiuoli maintained there was no pressure on his side as they prepare to face Bangladesh Premier League champions Bashundhara Kings, in their penultimate Group D clash of the 2021 AFC Cup, on Saturday. Kings, who ran out 2-0 winners against Maziya S&RC in their first group stage game, will be eager to get the better of the Blues, who went down to Mohun Bagan by the same scoreline.

An own-goal from Mohammed Irufaan, followed by a strike from Brazilian winger Robinho, sealed three points for Oscar Bruzon’s side in their opening clash against Maziya S&RC. Speaking to the press ahead of the encounter, Blues’ boss Pezzaiuoli said the Bangladeshi side were a force to reckon with, having made light work of their League campaign, which they secured with four games left to play.

“We're up against a team from Bangladesh that scored 55 goals in the League and are champions. They conceded only nine goals in the League, and won their first group game 2-0. They score a lot of goals and have a strong defence, are compact at the back and counter very well. We might have to change things a little bit because this is our third game. Our plan will be to maybe go backwards a bit and create space behind them to score goals and create chances,” said Pezzaiuoli.

Bashundhara, who made their AFC Cup debut last season in a campaign that was cut short due to the COVID19 pandemic, retained the 2020-21 Bangladesh Federation Cup in January. Pezzaiuoli handed starts to Ajay Chhetri and Naorem Roshan Singh in the clash against Mohun Bagan, while Leon Augustine, Parag Shrivas and Ajith Kumar came off the bench in addition to summer signings Bidyashagar Singh and Danish Farooq.

“In life you cannot be negative. I choose to take the positives from the previous game where we had almost 70% ball possession against Mohun Bagan. I think we only need to improve in certain aspects. There is no pressure. Football is not about pressure. We enjoy the games, and I am sure every team wants to be the number one in the Group. We want to win, and so do Bashundhara Kings. We have worked hard in training, and focused on certain things. We want to better our free-kicks and corners, and create better chances and finish them,” Pezzaiuoli added.

Having made several new foreign signings in Raul Becerra, Jonathan Fernandes, Khaled Shafiei and Robinho (on loan from Fluminense), the Blues will have to be wary of Bashundhara Kings’ attack, with the BPL side scoring as many as 67 goals in all competitions this season.

Kick off between the Blues and Bashundhara Kings at the National Stadium is scheduled for 4.30 pm IST, and will be telecast live on the STAR Sports network, Hotstar and JioTV.

Bengaluru Reserves beat ARA FC, remain unbeaten In 2nd division

Bengaluru FC Media  

Bengaluru FC B got back to winning ways with a dominant 2-0 win over Ahmedabad-based ARA FC in a Round 6 encounter of the Hero 2nd Division League at the Bengaluru Football Stadium, on Wednesday. Second half goals from Naorem Roshan Singh (47’) and Altamash Sayed (73’) sealed the points for Naushad Moosa’s Blue Colts, as they moved seven points clear at the top of Group A in the standings, while extending their unbeaten run to six games.

Going into the game after a goalless draw against LoneStar Kashmir five days ago, Coach Naushad Moosa made one change, with versatile midfielder Biswa Darjee replacing Sairuat Kima in the Starting XI. In a half that saw very few clear chances for either side, it was BFC’s Roshan Singh who came the closest to find the back of the net, but the winger’s left-footed grounder came off the upright after he managed to create space outside the box and take a swipe in the 36th minute.

ARA ’keeper Abhishek Das pulled off a point blank save from a Myron Mendes header after Altamash Sayed’s cross as both teams went into the tunnel with the scores unchanged. The second half sprung to life inside two minutes as the hosts broke the deadlock. Roshan Singh capitalised on a miscued clearance from Abhishek and slotted home from close for his fourth goal of the campaign.

The early goal gave Moosa’s boys a much-needed confidence boost, as they began dominating proceedings even more. With ARA just pushing up on counters, BFC B practically stayed put in the rival half for most of the second period.

Parag Shrivas had a good chance when he set on a solo down the middle, but his powerful drive was tipped over by Das in the 70th minute. However, the ARA ’keeper was helpless three minutes later when a quick interplay between substitutes Advait Shinde and Amay Morajkar on the right saw the latter send Altamash free in the box who took a touch before calmly finishing at the far post to make it 2-0.

Bengaluru FC B now travel north to face LoneStar Kashmir on Wednesday, March 27, in a fixture that has been rescheduled to take place at the Vaishno Devi Shrine Board Sports Complex, in Katra, Jammu.

Bengaluru Reserves put eight past Hindustan

Bengaluru FC Media 

Bengaluru FC Reserves extended their winning run to three games, hammering Delhi-based Hindustan FC 8-0 in a completely one-sided affair at the Bengaluru Football Stadium, on Friday. The win took Bengaluru’s tally to 9 points as they cemented their position at the top of Group-A standings in the Hero 2nd Division League after they sealed their biggest ever win in the competition.

While Naushad Moosa’s boys controlled the entire game, it was a brace each from Parag Shrivas (16’, 43’) and Leon Augustine (51’, 57’) along with goals from Advait Shinde (11’), Myron Mendes (20’), Emanuel Lalchhanchhuaha (60’) and Altamash Sayed (61’) that gave Bengaluru a well-deserved win.

Dominating proceedings from the word go, BFC broke the deadlock in the 11th minute through a set piece. Altamash found Myron on the right, whose low cross into the box was finished off by Advait on the second attempt after his first was blocked by the ’keeper. Five minutes later, Myron with a long ball found Parag free on the left who ran past his marker before finishing off at the far post with a low finish.

Myron had a penalty kick saved by custodian Varun Bisht in the 19th minute before making amends a minute later with a close-range finish at the far post on Parag’s cross from the left.

The Blue Colts missed another penalty at the half hour mark when Altamash hit his effort from the spot wide, before Hindustan FC missed the third penalty of the afternoon when Jaskaran Singh too fired off target after Aditya Patra had brought Franko Paul down.

The hosts finally made it 4-0 minutes from the breather when Parag completed his brace heading home Altamash’s corner kick in from the left.

Bengaluru struck four in quick succession in the opening quarter of the second half. First it was Leon who poked home from close on Advait's pass after Myron's effort from outside the box came off the crossbar in the 51st minute. Six minutes later, he completed his brace tapping home Parag’s low ball in from the left.

Emanuel and Altamash scored two in as many minutes from outside the box around the hour mark to make it 8-0 for the Blue Colts. The home side had quite a few chances in the remainder of the second half, but some poor finishing and last-ditch defending from the visitors meant the score remained unchanged.

The league now breaks for three weeks with Bengaluru Reserves resuming their campaign with an away game against Hindustan FC in Delhi on February 25.