Siliguri Blues: night of coronation turns sour for Champions as Bagan embarrass Bengaluru 5-0
MOHUN BAGAN RAINED all over Bengaluru FC's parade as the former champions handed the current champions a humilating 5-0 drubbing at Siliguri tonight.
Ashley Westwood had AFC Cup in mind when he rested some of the most important players for this game, including captain Sunil Chhetri, Eugeneson Lyngdoh, Udanta Singh and John Johnson. But that decision came back to bite the Blues in the form of a defeat that soured the occasion of their coronation.
The second-string Bengaluru midfield looked hapless and the defenders lacked coordination as Mohun Bagan started early with the scoring business. Sony Norde entered the box and fed the ball to Cornell Glen who was completely unmarked and easily headed it in.
Soon came the second, and once again it was Sony Norde who made his way past multiple opponent players to create it. He passed the ball to Katsumi Yusa who found Lenny Rodrigues. The goal was buried within seconds.
2 minutes later, Luciano Sabrosa had joined the party. Young Azharuddin was brought down, Katsumi Yusa took the free kick that the defender sent into the net. 3-0.
Azharuddin himself got his first I-League goal only minutes later. Raju Gaikwad sent in a cross that Glen failed to handle but the youngster was in position to capitalize.
Nerves started showing as Bengaluru FC players started committing some rash tackles. Keegan Pereira brought down Katsumi Yusa just outside the box, and Malsawmzuala badly tackled Azharuddin. Both got booked.
But Keegan had to pay for his recklessness in the second half when he rugby-tackled Cornell Glen and received a second yellow card. BFC were now down to 10 men.
Mohun Bagan kept creating chances as the Blues defence appeared to possess no answer for Norde's agility. Had Glen and others not made a number of misses up front the scoreline could have looked way worse for the champions. Glen finally scored his second goal of the night from a Katsumi cross to make it 5-0.
Bengaluru FC spent the rest of the night staying deep and desperately defending. At long last, the final whistle came, with BFC suffering their biggest defeat ever on the night they were to be crowned the champions of India for the second time.
The champagnes were popped, the medals were handed out. Bengaluru FC players lined up at the podium to lift the trophy as the deserving champions. But the fireworks going up in the night sky were being set off by Mohun Bagan fans. The ambiance was not one of conclusion, but it seemed to be building up to something else.
The title race, marred by an anti-climax in the I-League, may be heading for a fitting climax in the Federation Cup.
