Bengaluru FC secured a 1-0 win at the Kanteerava Stadium in the first leg of the ISL semifinal against ATK, but it will be without left-back Nishu Kumar, who was shown a red card, for the second leg.
LIVE UPDATES
Full-time: Bengaluru FC 1-0 ATK. Deshorn Brown's goal is enough for Bengaluru to win the first leg of the semifinal. It comes through a nervy final 10 minutes after Nishu Kumar saw red for a professional foul on Roy Krishna.
90+3' CHANCE! More lazy defending from ATK. Rahul Bheke's throw-in finds Dimas Delgado in the box and he goes for a powerful effort with his laces, mishits it and it flies harmlessly over the crossbar.
90' We are into four minutes of stoppage time as ATK chases a late equaliser.
86' The free-kick resulting from Nishu Kumar's red card is squandered by ATK and Edu Garcia, who twice found the wall in trying to power his free-kick past Gurpreet Singh Sandhu.
84' RED CARD: Nishu Kumar's sent off for bringing down Roy Krishna near the edge of the area. Seems a harsh decision given there was a tangling of the legs. But Roy was through on goal and Nishu was the last Bengaluru FC man, which was perhaps the reason for his seeing red.
82' YELLOW CARD: ATK's Sumit Rathi is shown a yellow card for putting his arm across Suresh Wangjam's face as the Bengaluru FC man looked to go past him.
80' CHANCE! Sunil Chhetri meets a low cross with his right instep and tries to curl it into the corner. Doesn't get the contact he wanted and it flies over from 12 yards out. A let-off for ATK.
77' SAVED! A fine fingertip save from Arindam Bhattacharya keeps Bengaluru FC to 1-0. ATK not doing itself any favour by conceding possession in the defensive half. This time, Dimas Delgado who pounces on the error and plays in Kevaughn Frater, who takes a touch and drills a powerful effort that's possibly headed for the top corner. Arindam shows good agility to dive to his left and tip the effort over the crossbar. The resulting corner is again delivered by Delgado, and it's headed over by Erik Paartalu.
75' Substitution for ATK: Javi Hernandez OFF, Armando Sousa ON
73' Kevaughn Frater is trying to engage with the ATK central defenders John Johnson and Pritam Kotal. This time he bumps into John Johnson and concedes a cheap free-kick.
68' OHH! Another excellent corner delivery from Dimas Delgado. It's an inswinger this time, attacked at the front post by Juanan, whose flicked header bounces behind for a goal-kick. No one at the back post to perhaps guide it in or head it back across.
64' Suresh Wangjam, on the Bengaluru FC right, is managing to keep Michael Soosairaj at arm's length. ATK's attack in the last five minutes have come from its left-hand side with Soosajraj trying to get 1v1s against Harmanjot Khabra and Suresh. So far, he's not been able to dribble his way past either of them.
60' Substitution for Bengaluru FC: Deshorn Brown OFF, Francisco Borges ON
57' Deshorn Brown receives the ball from Rahul Bheke and, from near the edge of the area, lets fly. He skies his effort, didn't get his knee over the ball to keep his shot down and possibly on target. That's another warning, though, for ATK that it needs to be closing down Bengaluru FC's players in such positions.
53' OFFSIDE! ATK nearly pays the price for conceding possession in the defensive half. Dimas Delgado pounces on the loose ball and fizzes it to the Deshorn Brown, who doesn't control it as well as he'd have liked and tries to play in Suresh Wangjam arriving in the box. It's a little late and the linesman has put his flag up on the near side. Easy decision that!
49' SAVED! Arindam Bhattacharya is called into action early in the second half. Kevaughn Frater, who replaced Albert Serran, floats a left-footed cross from the right, Sunil Chettri connects with his head but doesn't get enough power on it and Arindam is able to tip it over the crossbar for a corner.
46' ATK gets the second half underway. There's been a half-time substitution: Kevaughn Frater ON, Albert Serran OFF
The players are making their way out for the start of the second half. ATK finished the first half strongly but Bengaluru FC has looked the better team overall and it will aim to build on its 1-0 lead in the second 45'.
SECOND HALF
Half-time: Peep, peep, peep! Deshorn Brown's goal sends Bengaluru FC 1-0 into half-time. ATK has carried a goal threat, with Roy Krishna having a couple of sighters, but Gurpreet Singh Sandhu's not been troubled much.
45' ATK's finishing the half strongly! Prabir Das lobs the ball to Edu Garcia in the box. Garcia gets his shot away quickly, trying to beat Gurpreet Singh Sandhu at his near post. It's well wide of the target, though. Always a difficult chance with the angle against him.
42' OHHH! Deshorn Brown's drilled effort from outside the box flies marginally over the crossbar. The Jamaican outmuscles a couple of ATK players to set himself up for a shot from just outside the area. It's a lethal effort but Arindam Bhattacharya can watch it sail over. Deshorn Brown, though, is the primary threat to ATK.
39' Javi Hernandez takes the free-kick won by Edu Garcia. It's at the perfect position for his left-footed effort. He can't get his effort over the Bengaluru FC wall and the ball goes out to touch. From the resulting throw-in, David Williams miscontrols the ball and it rolls out for a goal-kick.
35' Yellow card for Serran! The first player to go into the referee's book tonight.
31' GOAL! Deshorn Brown puts Bengaluru FC 1-0 up, benefiting from Arindam Bhattacharya's failure to collect the ball cleanly from Juanan's earlier effort. The move's started by Gurpreet Singh Sandhu's longball from near the halfway line, finds Sunil Chhetri on the left-hand side. The forward heads it onto the path of Erik Paartalu, who passes it first time to Juanan, who tries to curl the ball low into the corner. Arindam reads it perfectly and goes low to make what should have been a regulation save. The ball squeezes out of his grap as he tried to wrap his hands around it, and Brown taps it in. A simple finish that!
27' Javi Hernandes drills a low effort from 25 yards out. It spins away from Gurpreet Singh Sandhu's left-hand post. An excellent hit, though.
24' CHANCE! Sunil Chhetri gets on the end of a longball and tries to head it across goal for the arriving Deshorn Brown. It's a little close to Arindam Bhattacharya, who collects it on the second attempt after losing grasp of it the first time.
23' Dimas Delgado with another excellent corner, this time ATK defenders manage to clear it away.
17' GOAL RULED OUT! David Williams has found the back of the net with a thumping effort. The linesman has put his flag up, but the replays show that Juanan was playing David onside. It's also come to light that David controlled the ball with his hand before getting his shot away. A big moment in the match.
14' CHANCE! The ball breaks for Roy Krishna in the attacking third and it's in a nice position for him to go for the curling effort. He gets a lethal strike away but Serran puts his body in the way. That's the second time in the space of three minutes that Roy has had a sniff on BFC goal.
11' OHHH! A nearly moment for ATK! David Williams plays an inviting cross that his strike partner Roy Krishna almost connects with. Roy slid in to get his foot to the ball, but it was a little quick for him. A half-chance, that!
10' Bengaluru FC is shading the possession stats early: 57 per cent to ATK's 43.
7' CHANCE! Rahul Bheke connects with Dimas Delgado's corner, doesn't get his head over the ball enough and it sails over the crossbar. A floated corner delivery from Dimas and Bheke had an almost free header.
5' Deshorn Brown drops deep and releases Harmanjot Khabra down the right. The weight of the throughball is perfect for the right-back to cross first time, Pritam Kotal gets his positing perfect and heads the ball away from danger. That's Bengaluru FC's first attacking foray on the night.
2' A give-and-go between Edu Garcia and Prabir Das, who gets on the end of the throughball and looks to play a low cross. Juanan is in the way and puts it to touch.
Kick-off: Bengaluru FC gets us underway, playing from right to left in the first half.
The players are making their way out to the middle, and we are ready for the Indian national anthem. The national anthem, handshakes and the team photos are complete, and we are ready for kick-off.
We are 15 minutes away from kick-off! Remember it's the first meeting in the ISL knockouts between Bengaluru FC and ATK, which is playing its first semifinal since the ISL 2016 season.
The protagonists exchange pleasantries before the action begins!
Team news: Changes aplenty for Bengaluru FC from its last ISL league fixture. Captain Sunil Chhetri returns to the starting line-up, which also features Erik Paartalu, Deshorn Brown and Rahul Bheke. For ATK, goalkeeper Dheeraj Singh makes way for Arindam Bhattacharya, while Salam Singh, Pronay Halder and Jayesh Rane are replaced by Prabir Das, Regin Michael and Michael Soosairaj. Edu Garcia is the other player to return to the starting line-up.
Starting line-ups
Bengaluru FC: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (GK), Rahul Bheke, Albert Serran, Juanan, Harmanjot Khabra, Nishu Kumar, Erik Paartalu, Dimas Delgado, Suresh Wangjam, Sunil Chhetri, Deshorn Brown ( Substitutes: Prabhsukhan Singh Gill (GK), Udanta Singh, Gursimrat Singh Gill, Francisco Borges, Ashique Kuruniyan, Leon Augustin, Kevaughn Frater)
ATK: Arindam Bhattacharja (GK), Sumit Rathi, John Johnson, Pritam Kotal, Prabir Das, Regin Michael,Michael Soosairaj, Roy Krishna, Javier Hernandez, Edu Garcia, David Williams ( Substitutes: Dheeraj Singh, Salam Singh, Victor Mongil, Armando Sosa Pena, Pronay Halder, Balwant Singh, Jayesh Rane)
STAT: This is the first meeting between Bengaluru FC and ATK in the knockout stages of the ISL, while ATK will be playing its first semifinal since the 2016 season.
Bengaluru FC has arrived at the Kanteerava Stadium to a rousing welcome from the West Block Blues!
Clash of the best and second-best defensive records
With 13 goals conceded in 18 league matches, Bengaluru FC holds the best defensive record this season. It has, however, conceded two or more goals in each of its last four matches, indicating the defence isn't as watertight coming into the semifinal against a free-scoring ATK. Antonio Habbas' side has the second-best defensive record in the ISL this season (16 goals), but it's shipped nearly a third of them in its last two league fixtures - three against Chennaiyin FC and two against Bengaluru. It's possible that both teams could be extra cautious at the start, not least because of the stakes and this being the first leg of a knockout tie.
A view of the away dressing room (ATK) ahead of kick-off.
As we await kick-off at the Kanteerava Stadium, listen to our podcast previewing the Bengaluru FC v ATK ISL semifinal.
Preview
Defending ISL champion Bengaluru FC hosts ATK in the first leg of the second semifinal at the Kanteerava Stadium, aiming to bounce back from a penalty shootout defeat to Maziya in the AFC Cup playoff in midweek. At the pre-match press conference, manager Carles Cuadrat said talismanic captain Sunil Chhetri should be fit to play in the crucial first leg. The Spanish manager said: “I think Sunil [Chhetri] is ready for the game and we are three games away from becoming champions. We need not punish ourselves for the things we did in the past. For the third season in a row we are fighting for the title while a lot of teams are already in their holidays.”
Kolkata-based ATK finished second in the league and didn't lose either of its two fixtures against Bengaluru, drawing 2-2 in the most recent match at the Kanteerava Stadium. It's scored the second-most goals (33) this season with Roy Krishna in red-hot form in front of goal, scoring 14 goals. Its manager Antonio Habbas said: “I think it will be a very competitive match because two organised teams will be playing [against each other]. BFC is balanced and very competitive and one of the favourites. Until now, they are the champions and we have to respect them.”
Where to watch
You can catch the play-offs of the Indian Super League on the Star Sports Network . You can also stream the games on the go on Hotstar . Alternatively, stay with us for all the updates from the game as they happen.
Comments
SHARE