Super Cup - Ten man Bengaluru stun Mohun Bagan with a 4-2 win, Miku gets hat-trick
THEY WERE NOT EVEN ALLOWED to carry umbrellas into the stadium.
Dragging their feet under an unforgiving sun, the burnt sweaty faces of half a dozen young Mohun Bagan fans from Balichak lit up when they found a place with decent shade to rest a while. They enjoyed every moment of it before making their way to the East stand of the Kalinga Stadium of Bhubaneswar, where they knew they'd directly face the glare of the sun till well into the second half.
Without a speck of cloud in the sky, the summer was peaking in Bhubaneswar. The temperature was well above 40 degrees and the humidity was making things worse. As the two teams walked out to the pitch about an hour before the match, the players needed some cooling down rather than warming up.
Juan Antonio Gonzalez felt unwell during the warm up. Despite being in the official team sheet, he had to be replaced by Harmanjot Khabra at the last moment.
Both teams started reasonably well. Mohun Bagan were making it clear that wingplay was their best weapon early on, with Nikhil Kadam and Sheikh Faiyaz frequently changing positions and creating attacks. Nikhil Kadam got a good opportunity to hit home early on but sent it wide. Minutes later on the other end, Boithang Haokip returned the favour on the other end.
A battle of midfield ensued with chances going to both sides here and there. Yuta Kinowaki tried to re-create his Cooperage magic with a shot from the halfline going for goal but it went just over the bar. Then Udanta ran up to meet a well placed ball from Sunil Chhetri but missed. Sunil himself got blocked by Arijit Bagui when he tried to shoot from a Khabra cross.
Just before half-time, Faiyaz ran up the left wing and fed Akram Moghrabi at the edge of the box. Under pressure, he passed the ball to Dicka who knocked it in from close range. Mohun Bagan took the lead just before half time.
Albert Roca decided to sent Tony Dovale on as Bengaluru FC began the second half chasing a deeficit. And they had a stroke of bad luck very early on as Nishu Kumar was sent off for a professional foul on Dipanda just outside the box. But that was where the tide of the game turned towards the Blues.
With BFC down to 10 men, the MB defence momentarily slipped into a false sense of security. And the mistakes they made, mostly with markings, took the game out of their hands within minutes.
First, right after the hour mark, Miku was unguarded inside the box. He received a ball well, turned and let go; it was a precise finish that MB keeper Shilton Paul could not anticipate. Then moments after that, Bengaluru earned a free kick just outside the Bagan box, and the defenders got outsmarted again by Miku who took the free kick early and got the finish.
Suddenly Mohun Bagan were down 2-1 to a 10 man Bengaluru. The Mariners tried hard to make a comeback but under pressure they were unable to crack open a revitalized BFC defence. And towards the end of the game, as MB's attempts to equalize got more desperate, they conceded more.
A Rana Gharami foul on Udanta allowed Bengaluru to score their third with Miku getting his hat-trick. Then, for good measure, Sunil Chhetri pitched in with a classic angular shot that found its mark in added time. Dicka got a goal back but it was a thumping victory for Bengaluru FC by a 4-2 margin.
On Friday, the Blues will face yet another old enemy. A finale between East Bengal and Bengaluru FC is a classic fixture to bring the domestic season to a close.
