AIFF Media Team
KOZHIKODE: Bengaluru FC defeated 10-man RoundGlass Punjab FC 2-0 in their second Hero Super Cup 2023 Group A match at the EMS Corporation Stadium in Kozhikode on Wednesday, April 12, 2023.
Bengaluru FC, who drew their first match against Sreenidi Deccan, now have four points from two outings. Sreenidi, who beat Kerala Blasters in the earlier match of the day, have an equal number of points.
The first half saw RoundGlass Punjab enjoying a fair share of the ball possession and attempts at the rival goal as well. Juan Mera Gonzalez was the brain behind most of the threatening moves. In the 11th minute he set up Krishnananda Singh, but the striker failed to keep his shot on target.
Bengaluru FC, meanwhile, had a few good opportunities to find the back of the net. In the 22nd minute, Rohit Kumar displayed great footwork to shrug off a defender only to find his powerful shot from inside the box struck the underside of the crossbar and come back into play.
In the dying seconds of the first half, Sunil Chhetri won the ball just outside the box and passed it for N Siva Sakthi. But the young attacker’s attempt was pushed away by RoundGlass Punjab custodian Kiran Limbu. In a follow-up move, Rohit Kumar too missed the opportunity, as he couldn’t keep his shot on target.
After switching sides, the Hero Indian Super League 2022-23 finalists started on a better note. Substitute Roy Krishna led waves of attacks for the Blues and in one instance in the 54th minute, found himself in a good position to score. The Fijian forward dribbled past goalkeeper Limbu, but Valpuia stepped in time to save his attempt.
Minutes later, Chhetri came close to scoring after Udanta Singh performed a great run on the right flank and delivered an inch-perfect aerial cross. However, Kiran Limbu, who was in wonderful form on the night, saved the Blues skipper’s powerful header.
In the 56th minute, the Nepalese goalkeeper once again stepped in to save RoundGlass Punjab from conceding. This time, the 33-year-old stood strong between the sticks to stave off a tap-in by Udanta from a very close range.
Finally, in the 66th minute, Bengaluru found the breakthrough when substitute Pablo Perez’s thumping header was partially parried away by Limbu, but he had no answer for Udanta’s header that gave Simon Grayson’s men a 1-0 lead.
The matters went worse for RoundGlass as in the 78th minute, the referee gave a second yellow card and the red card to Huidrom Naocha Singh for a foul on Namgyal Bhutia. Despite going down to 10 men, the Hero I-League 2022-23 champions kept moving forward in search of the equaliser.
Eventually, the Blues doubled their lead deep into the stoppage time. Javi Hernandez was brought down inside the box by Mohamed Salah. The Spanish midfielder made no mistake in scoring from the spot to make it 2-0.
In their final group stage game of the Hero Super Cup on April 16, the Blues will go up against arch-rivals Kerala Blasters and RoundGlass Punjab will take on Sreenidi Deccan FC.
