Bengaluru FC round off AFC Cup campaign with 6-2 win over Maziya S&RC

ATKMB
qualify
for
knockouts
of
AFC
Cup
after
1-1
draw
with
Bashundhara
Kings

Udanta
Singh,
Cleiton
Silva
and
Leon
Augustine
scored
first
half
goals,
before
strikes
from
substitutes
Sivasakthi
Narayanan
and
Bidyashagar
Singh’s
brace
kept
the
Blues’ lead
intact
after
Hamza
Mohamed
and
Asadhulla
Abdulla
had
pulled
two
back
for
the
hosts.

Earlier,
Pezzaiuoli
made
five
changes
to
the
team
that
was
held
to
a
goalless
draw
by
Bashundhara
Kings,
handing
starts
to
Sarthak
Golui,
Pratik
Chaudhari,
Rohit
Kumar,
Udanta
and
Leon,
while
goalkeeper
Gurpreet
Singh
Sandhu
captained
the
side
in
the
absence
of
Sunil
Chhetri.
On
the
other
bench,
Risto
Vidaković
made
three
changes
to
the
Maziya
team
that
lost
to
ATK
Mohun
Bagan.

The
Blues
started
the
game
on
the
front
foot
and
broke
the
deadlock
just
six
minutes
from
kick-off
when
Sarthak
and
Leon
combined
down
the
right
flank.
The
eventual
cross
from
the
Bengaluru
right-back
found
Udanta
arriving
in
the
box,
and
the
winger
made
no
mistake
in
burying
his
header
to
put
Bengaluru
1-0
up.

Only
moments
later,
Pezzaiuoli’s
men
were
knocking
on
the
Maziya
door
again,
through
Udanta
and
then
Leon.
Rane’s
attempted
cross
for
Udanta
was
a
yard
ahead
of
him
before
Udanta’s
cross
found
Leon,
but
the
latter
skewed
his
shot
wide.

The
Blues
scored
their
second
goal
in
fortuitous
circumstances
when
Brazilian
striker
Cleiton
Silva
poked
the
ball
home
in
the
19th
minute.
Attempting
to
collect
a
long
punt,
Maziya
‘keeper
Shareef
misjudged
the
flight
of
the
ball
and
Silva
chased
the
ball
down
and
scored
from
close
range,
past
the
reach
of
Shareef.
Silva
would
put
the
ball
in
the
back
of
the
net
once
again
on
the
half
hour
mark,
only
for
the
assistant
to
raise
his
flag
for
offside.

Maziya
were
forced
into
a
change
when
Shareef
was
stretchered
off
and
substitute
custodian
Mamatkhonov
Mirzokhid
was
called
into
action.
Mirzokhid’s
first
involvement
saw
him
pick
the
ball
from
the
back
of
the
net,
when
Leon
managed
to
beat
the
offside
trap
and
slot
home
through
the
Uzbek
‘keeper’s
legs
to
make
it
3-0.

Leon
came
close
to
scoring
his
second
of
the
game
on
the
other
side
of
the
break,
but
Mirzokhid
was
well
positioned
to
save
his
effort.
Jesus
Blanco
was
alert
to
make
two
crucial
blocks
right
after,
from
Jayesh
and
Suresh,
to
deny
the
Blues
a
fourth.

Pezzaiuoli
rang
in
the
first
of
his
five
changes
when
Danish
Farooq
replaced
Rohit
Kumar,
and
made
further
substitutions
later,
sending
on
Ajay
Chhetri,
Bidyashagar
Singh
and
Sivasakthi
Narayanan.
Maziya
pulled
one
back
in
the
67th
minute
through
Hamza,
who
beat
the
offside
trap
and
slotted
home
past
Pratik’s
attempted
tackle
and
Gurpreet’s
stretch
to
make
it
3-1.
However,
the
Blues
responded
just
three
minutes
later,
as
Sivasakthi
latched
onto
a
cross
from
Udanta
with
a
neat
touch
and
finish,
for
his
first
goal
in
Bengaluru
colours.

Maziya
reduced
the
deficit
once
again
in
the
80th
minute,
against
the
run
of
play,
when
Abdulla
latched
onto
a
pass
from
Mohamed
and
slotted
home
from
close
range.
Udanta
had
a
late
chance
to
add
to
his
exploits,
but
having
controlled
well
and
cut
in
on
his
left,
his
finish
was
found
wanting.
Keen
to
get
in
on
the
act,
substitute
Bidyashagar
scored
twice
in
seven
minutes,
both
times
from
close
range,
to
put
the
game
beyond
the
reach
of
Vidakovic’s
men.

The
result
confirmed
a
third
place
finish
for
Bengaluru,
who
finished
their
Group
D
campaign
with
four
points
from
three
games.
The
Blues
are
in
action
next
at
the
130th
edition
of
the
Durand
Cup,
having
confirmed
their
participation
in
the
tournament
that’s
set
to
take
place
in
Kolkata,
in
September.

Source:
Bengaluru
FC