By 
Bengaluru FC has booked their place in the semi-finals of the Indian Super League (ISL) 2022-23 after registering a 1-0 victory over Kerala Blasters FC, who forfeited the match in the first half of extra time at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Friday.
Bengaluru FC captain Sunil Chhetri scored the controversial goal of the match in the seventh minute of extra time to guide his team into the semi-finals. With this win, Bengaluru FC has now won nine consecutive games on the trot.
In the first half of the game, the Blasters dominated possession but couldn’t get past goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu in the Bengaluru FC goal. The Bengaluru FC relied on the quick feet of Roy Krishna and Sivasakthi Narayanan and were content to play on the counter.
Out of the six shots scored by the hosts in the first half, only one of them was on target. Krishna was the player who attempted three out of those six shots. In the 24th minute of the game, the Fijian attempted the only shot on target from a tight angle.
Gursimrat Singh Gill almost parried it straight into the path of Hernandez, but it was cleared away for a corner from which Krishna failed to keep his header on target.
Just three minutes after the half-hour mark, a glancing header from Danish Farooq was missed by an unmarked Victor Mongil at the far post before the flag went up for offside against the defender.
.@bengalurufc qualify for the semi-finals after #KeralaBlasters forfeit the match! 🔵#BFCKBFC #HeroISL #HeroISLPlayoffs #LetsFootball #BengaluruFC pic.twitter.com/GlzealhnMt
— Indian Super League (@IndSuperLeague) March 3, 2023
In the second half, it was nothing different as the visitors continued to keep possession of the ball while the hosts waited to launch on the counter. In the 53rd minute, the Blasters got a chance via a free kick to test the keeper, but Adrian Luna skied it.
Close to the 60-minute mark, Suresh Wangjam’s effort from outside the box flew through traffic and forced a palm behind for a corner by Gill at full stretch.
In the final quarter of the match, the Blasters pushed themselves to score the opening goal, but the strong defence of Bengaluru FC defence kept its shape to deflect all the attempts. In the 83rd minute, Dimitrios Diamantakos registered his side’s first shot on target, but his header was taken comfortably by Sandhu before the game went into extra time.
In the first minute of extra time, Blasters forward Rahul KP attempted a shot from range as his shot picked up a flick from his team-mate Luna and went inches wide at the far post. Meanwhile, Bengaluru FC also tried their luck at the other end as Bruno Ramires got his head to a corner which just went over the bar.
In the seventh minute of extra time, Chhetri quickly took his free-kick, which flew into the back of the net. The Blasters were disappointed with the goal and looked unhappy with the way it was scored. Blasters manager Ivan Vukomanvoic called his team back, which eventually resulted in the side forfeiting the match in disagreement with the decision and a win was awarded to Bengaluru FC.
With this win, Bengaluru FC has advanced to the next stage of the ISL playoffs. The Blues will now take on League Shield Winners Mumbai City FC in a two-legged semi-final on March 7 and 12 which starts with an away trip.
Comments