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Goals from Sunil Chhetri (16′), Daniel Segovia (17′, 62′), Udanta Singh (30′) and Daniel Lalhlimpuia (89′) gave Albert Roca the reaction he wanted from his side as Bengaluru FC beat a hapless Aizawl FC 5-0 at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, to keep their hopes of a place in the knockout stages of the AFC Cup alive.
In Wednesday’s other fixture, Group E leaders New Radiant SC of Maldives had little trouble against Abahani Dhaka Limited, beating the side from Bangladesh 5-1. Part of a two-horse race to progress to the zonal semifinal, Bengaluru FC will need to beat Abahani Dhaka Limited and hope that New Radiant SC either lose or draw against Aizawl FC in Guwahati, in what will be the last round of group stage games.
Bengaluru FC’s first chance at taking the lead came in the 11th minute when Udanta Singh blitzed down the right and sent in a delightful cross that Daniel Segovia brought down. But the Spaniard’s shot on goal was kept out by Lalawmpuia.
But the Blues didn’t have to wait for too long after Chhetri, who was brought down by Lalawmpuia in the box, stepped up in the 16th minute to score what was his 23rd goal of the season. Hurting from a disappointing defeat to New Radiant SC last week and having tasted blood with the skipper’s opener, Bengaluru FC took only a minute to score again. Erik Paartalu followed up a fantastic interception with a no-look pass that Segovia caressed past the ‘keeper’s left.
Paartalu was then involved in Bengaluru FC’s third goal, picking Chhetri’s run with the perfect ball over the Aizawl FC defence. The Bengaluru FC captain took on a defender before squaring the ball for Udanta to tap home and make it 3-0.
It was one-way traffic for all of the first half and the script didn’t change in the second. Segovia got his second of the night, a glancing header from a Subhasish Bose cross in the 62nd minute.
A second-half substitute for Boithang Haokip, Daniel Lalhlimpuia rounded of a quality performance with a fifth Bengaluru FC goal with barely a minute left on the clock. Sunil Chhetri, squirmed past an Aizawl FC shirt in the box before squaring a pass for the young striker who didn’t make a mistake with his shot on goal.
Bengaluru FC now travel to Bangladesh where they play Abahani Dhaka Limited on May 16 in their final AFC Cup 2018 group game.
