BFC storm sinks champs Johor

 If there were any doubts on Sunil Chhetri’s calibre to single-handedly take his team to glorious heights, such thoughts vanished into the thin air at a noisy Sree Kanteerava Stadium here.

The Indian talisman ensured that his club, Bengaluru FC, broke the Indian jinx in the AFC Cup and sealed their spot in history books by qualifying for the final in superb fashion on Wednesday.

The champions of India beat title holders Johor Darul Tak’zim 3-1 in the second leg (4-2 on aggregate) to become the first Indian side ever to make it to the final of the continental tournament. They will take on Iraq’s Air Force FC for the title on November 5 in Doha, Qatar.
One could not have asked for a better atmosphere for a match of this magnitude as not just the Bengaluru faithful, but thousands from across the country turned up to support the Indian outfit.

Bengaluru responded superbly to the fans as they were on the attack from the word go. Clean passes, smart off-the-ball movements and a quick pressing game became their hallmark with strikers CK Vineeth and Chhetri inching close to testing Izham Tarmizi in the Johor goal with every passing move.

Johor take lead

But against the run of play, the visitors sneaked ahead. Restricted to their own half in the early exchanges, the title holders hit on the counter to keep their dream alive.

Racing ahead of his marker to a free ball, the visiting skipper Shafiq Rahim did well to beat Nishu Kumar and tee one up for Johor’s lone forward Safee Sali.

Though the veteran smashed one right at Amrinder Singh in the Bengaluru goal, a shabby punch from the ’keeper saw the ball fall nicely to Rahim as he nodded in the opener in the 11th minute.

That however, was the only time Johor enjoyed an upper hand as Bengaluru regrouped soon and struck a hefty blow to Johor’s hopes of retaining the crown. Chhetri was on top of his game, scoring two of the three goals and also tracking back to help build play from the back. While his first goal came off a corner, the second one had class written all over it.

Forty minutes into the game, the skipper was in the right place at the right time to score from a Eugeneson Lyngdoh corner to draw his side level.

In the second session, he took his game a notch higher and capped his night with a sublime strike in the 67th minute.

This time, though he initially failed to control a Vineeth pass, the 32-year-old did enough to get the ball on to his stronger foot before unleashing a well-timed strike to the near post from just outside the box to give Bengaluru a much deserved lead.

Their latest foreign addition Juan Gonzales then showed his quality in the attack. The central defender rose high to meet a Lyngdoh free-kick and buried the ball into the Johor goal to put the result beyond doubt in the 76th minute as Bengaluru – the trendsetters in Indian football – scripted another memorable night not just for them, but also for Indian football.