Play-by-Play: BENGALURU FC HAVE DONE IT! They beat Johor and made it to the AFC Cup final

DREAMS CAME TRUE, prayers were granted and the wildest imaginations forced into the mold of reality when Bengaluru FC overcame a deficit and beat defending champions Johor Darul Tazim 3-1 in the second leg of AFC Cup semi-finals to claim a place in the grand finale against Iraq's AirForce Club. Two Indian players played a major role in this historic victory: Sunil Chhetri netted two goals while architect-in-chief Eugeneson Lyngdoh got two assits.

Coming into the game with Bengaluru's away goal advantage hanging over their heads, Johor seemed to be playing catch-up in terms of the game as well. BFC made quite a few advances into the Southern Tigers' territory early in the game. 

Sunil Chhetri, playing on the left wing, made an early run and sent in a cross that wasn't half bad. Defender Kunalan, who was closely guarding Chhetri throughout, tried to get his foot to it but the touch wasn't thick enough. The ball went to Rino Anto but his left footed shot was weak, and missed the target. But he made up for it when he made a run moments later, findoing keeper Azammuddin. The keeper couldn't catch hold of the ball and it bounced to Sunil. But this time Kunalan got the better of him, tackling hard and making the BFC skipper lose the ball.

But then a moment's mistake dealt a major blow to the home side. Safee Sali of Johor got the ball at scoring range and let fly straight at the goal. The ball was too fast for Amrinder to catch and he tried to parry it away instead. But even that wasn't an adequte slap-away as the ball fell to Johor captain Safiq Bin Rahim whose shot went straight in. A pin-drop silence descended on the packed Kanteerava, the Malaysian champions had taken the lead.

But on the team's part, there was no sign of backing down. In fact, conceding the goal seemed to have caused all their inhibitions to come unhinged. For the next few minutes, it seemed like the only attacks were coming from BFC. A corner kick from Eugeneson Lyngdoh saw John Johnson send a header goalwards but Azammuddin made the save. Moments later the keeper saved a Rino Anto shot.

Near the half hour mark another Eugeneson corner had Johor in tatters. With botched clearance attempts, the ball hovered dangerously at goalmouth for a few moments. Then, the fall went to Sunil who was coming in from an angle. His shot beat the keeper but kissed the crossbar and went out. The signs were there; the Blues were knocking. 

38 minutes in, the equalizer came. Again, it was a corner. Again, Eugeneson was the one who served it up. The ball floated beyond the initial crust of defenders, and found the one head it was meant for. Sunil Chhetri's aim was impeccable. 1-1.

At half-time, the BFC substitutes did not come out to practice for a while; indicating there was a team meeting going on in the dressing room. And when the Blues came out for the second half, they were a different animal.

After Zainal made a good early run that Amrinder managed to save, CK Vineeth sent a cross to Chhetri that could have been the second. His left footer went just wide. 

Soon the attacks from the home side became absolutely relentless. Chhetri and Eugeneson were leading the charge, and tensions were flaring in the middle. Azrif Nasrulhaq pushed Eugeneson from behind, leading to a scuffle between the two sets of players. It was obvious that the pendulum of the game was swinging towards the Blues.

And the lead came 67 minutes in. A diagonal ball reached Sunil who made a little run into space, and left fly with his left foot from just outside the box. The ball floated towards the goal, as if in slow motion, moving up then coming right down in a perfect curve, beyond the reach of the keeper, into the net. Every single of the 21,300+ mouth began screaming in joy; Bengaluru FC were on their way to history. 

The deafening screams intensified when Eugeneson Lyngdoh's free kick was beautifully directed into the goal by Juanan. It was 3-1 with not much time to spare. And the fight seemed to have gone out of the Johor players.

The final minutes saw absolute domination from the home team, and played a comfortable game until the final whistle came. The underdogs with a fraction of their opponents' budget had done it; they had toppled the seemingly invincible defending champions, and earned a place in the AFC Cup final; the first ever Indian side to make it this far. 

It was the stuff of dreams, and a defining moment for Bengaluru FC's history, as well as that of Indian football. After playing Johor 4 times and never coming out on top, BFC saved the win for the best possible occasion. 

And you can re-live it all through our blow-by-blow updates of the game...