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Bengaluru FC secured their spot in the Durand Cup quarterfinals with a thrilling 3-2 win over Mohammedan Sporting, at the VYBK, in Kolkata on Tuesday. Goals from Aleksandar Jovanovic and Vinith Venkatesh, along with an own goal from Mohammedan, sealed the victory for the Blues. The hard-fought win propelled the Blues into the next stage of the tournament, going undefeated in the group stages.
Earlier, Blues’ boss Gerard Zaragoza made six changes to the starting eleven from the one that beat Inter Kashi 3-0 last week, opting for an all foreign attack with Pereyra Diaz getting his first start for the Blues, with Edgar Mendez and Ryan Williams manning the wings. Indian International, Suresh Wangjam made his return to the side for the first time this campaign. He partnered youngsters, Vinith Venkatesh who was handed his first start as well. In defence, Zaragoza replaced suspended Nikhil Poojary with debutant left-back Mohamed Salah, with skipper Rahul Bheke filling up the right-back position.
It didn’t take long for the Blues to break the deadlock when Jovanovic scored off a header inside the first ten minutes of the game. It was Salah’s left-footed corner kick that found Sana on the near post, who in turn headed the ball into Jovanovic’s path. The Australian centre-back made no mistake, giving his side an early lead.
Twenty minutes into the first period, it was the Blues again who found the back of the net. This time it was the Argentine striker whose shot on goal was put in by Mohammedan’s Dipu Halder, resulting in an own-goal. Bengaluru’s academy midfielder Vinith, split the opposition’s defence with a lofted through ball for Diaz, who got his shot off in time to double the lead for Zaragoza’s Blues, taking a two goal lead into half time.
Heading into the second forty-five, Zaragoza rang in his first two changes, with Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and Jovanovic making way for Lalthuammawia Ralte and twenty-year-old Clarence Fernandes. After Vinith made his debut earlier this campaign, it was the Goan centre-back’s turn tonight, both of them elevated from the Blues’ reserve team.
At the hour mark, Zaragoza turned to the bench once again, bringing on Sunil Chhetri, Shreyas Ketkar and Alberto Noguera for Edgar, Ryan and Suresh. Immediately, the Blues struck again, Noguera’s relentless pressing forced the Mohammedan defender to lose the ball as it fell onto Vinith’s path. The midfielder took one touch to set himself up and curled one past the keeper, to add a third for the Blues and score his first ever goal for the first team.
Mohammedan defender Israfil Dewann pulled one back for his side with a perfectly headed goal past Ralte, with just over ten minutes left of regular time. Three minutes later, Mohammedan found themselves a man down after goalkeeper Shubhajit fouled an oncoming Diaz at the edge of the box, picking up a straight red.
Inside the last two minutes of stoppage time it was Mohammedan again who scored their second through midfielder Roy Mahitosh. He struck from forty yards out, with the ball swerving past Ralte and into the back of the net. The spirited effort from Mohammedan was not enough as the referee blew the whistle, ending the game 2-3 at full time, sending Bengaluru FC into the quarterfinals of the Durand Cup, 2024.
The Blues finish on top of Group B standings with three wins out of three. The draws for the knockout stages will be held on August 18.
