That's it for today. Thanks for tuning in!
Meanwhile, Bengaluru FC finishes its group-stage assignments at third with 30 points from 18 games, which includes eight wins, six draw and four losses. Fourth-placed Chennaiyin FC, however, can move above Bengaluru in the 2019-20 ISL points table if it wins its game in hand against NorthEast United FC on Tuesday.
ATK finally registers its first-ever point at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium. It finishes the 2019-20 Indian Super League (ISL) season's league stage at second with 34 points from 18 matches, which includes 10 wins, four draws and four losses. ATK will play its semifinal first leg away on March 1.
THE MATCH IS DONE AND DUSTED!
90+4' We're into the final minute of stoppage time!! Balwant Singh almost created the winner for ATK there. ATK's substitutes have made the difference against Bengaluru FC tonight.
90' SCORES LEVEL!!!!!! BENGALURU 2 - 2 ATK!!! Insane scenes in the stadium!! Soosairaj finds the equaliser for ATK! It was a clever, quickly-taken free-kick by Edu Garcia. Soosairaj received it, dribbled past the defender inside the box and had a shot on goal. The ball takes a deflection off Harmanjot Khabra and goes out of the reach of Prabhsukhan Singh into goal.
86' GOOOAAAAAALLLLL!!!! ATK 1 - 2 BENGALURU!!! EDU GARCIA YOU BEAUTY! Edu's brilliance made this goal happen. He made a run from midfield and first executed one-two with Roy Krishna and then came up with another one-two with David Williams to get into the box unmarked. Edu then slammed one across Bengaluru keeper Prabhsukhan from the right to find the back of the net.
82' YELLOW CARD! Bengaluru player Suresh Wangjam is booked for a silly tackle. ATK attackers Roy Krishna and David Williams have been silent for most parts of the second half tonight.
81' FOUL! John Johnson pulls Frater's shirt from behind and it's a free-kick for Bengaluru. The ATK defender must be careful here because already has a yellow card.
77' CHANCE! Great long pass from Erik Paartalu to Leon Augustine who waits for a while before passing it to Nili Francisco inside the box. But Nili's final shot goes off target. He should have hit the ball on the first touch. It could have been Bengaluru 3-0. But ATK gets a goal kick.
72' BOOKING! ATK's John Johnson with an elbow to the back of Bengaluru's Paartalu. And he's booked by the referee. After watching the replays, it didn't seem like an yellow card offence.
69' SUBSTITUTION! This time it's an ATK change. Balwant Singh replaces Salam Ranjan Singh in the middle. Guess Habas has tweaked the formation a bit with this change. 3-5-2 to 4-3-3?
68' SUBSTITUTION! A surprising one! Erik Paartalu comes in for Sairuat Kima. Paartalu is on three yellows and this is a bold move from coach Carles Cuadrat.
67' FREE-KICK FOR BENGALURU! Nili will take it in Delgado's absence. And John Johnson heads the ball away for a BFC corner.
64' FOUL! Bengaluru's Leon Augustine completely takes out ATK defender Victor Mongil with a double-footed challenge. The referee doesn't give the offender a card. He's very lucky!
62' SHOT! Michael Regin goes for an ambitious effort on goal from quite a long way. And it misses the target by a long way as Prabhsukhan is untroubled. Fifty-fifty possession for both teams in the game so far.
57' CHANCE! David Williams tries to find Roy Krishna inside the box with a through ball. But Bengaluru keeper Prabhsukhan Singh gets to the ball first.
52' CHANGE! The player who scored the opener for Bengaluru FC is making way for Suresh Wangjam. Cuadrat had a long chat with Suresh before his entry into the field.
51' YELLOW CARD! Soosairaj looked dangerous there as he evaded a few Bengaluru players. But Gursimrat Singh brings him down just at the edge of the box to go into the referee's book. FREE-KICK for Bengaluru!
50' SHOT! Kevaughn Frater lets one fly from long but ATK keeper Gill collects it with ease. The Bengaluru forward could have passed it to a teammate instead.
46' SUBSTITUTION! Soosairaj Michael replaces Sumit Rathi in the middle for ATK. Habas makes an attacking change right at the start of the final 45 minutes. Another change, Edu Garcia comes in for Pronay Halder. ATK has one change left.
THE SECOND HALF IS UNDERWAY!
If the scoreline stays the same, these two teams - ATK and Bengaluru FC - will once again play each other in the Indian Super League (ISL) 2019-20 season's semifinal. However, there are still 45 minutes to go and anything can happen. Stay Tuned!
THE FIRST HALF COMES TO AN END!
45' Two minutes of stoppage time to be added on at the end of the first half! Despite dominating the attacking stats so far, ATK only has one shot on target, to Bengaluru's three.
43' This young and inexperienced Bengaluru side has dominated possession so far. It also has completed more passes than ATK, with a better pass percentage as well.
38' FOUL!!! Roy Krishna comes up with a poor sliding tackle on Serran inside the box. His ATK teammate David Williams had then put the ball into goal. However, the referee had blown his whistle before that.
35' BENGALURU 2 - 0 ATK!!! FRATER SCORES FOR BFC!!! Leon Augustine created this goal. He received the ball in midfield and went on a sprint through the right flank. His perfectly-timed low cross into the box was slotted past ATK keeper Dheeraj into the back of the net by Kevaughn Frater.
32' SUBSTITUTION! Bengaluru head coach Carles Cuadrat is forced to make a change here as Semboi Haokip suffers a hamstring injury. Spaniard Nili Francisco is the replacement as BFC started the match with only four foreign recruits.
30' CORNER FOR ATK! David Williams takes it yet again. The ball falls to Juanan whose header is blocked and the away side win another corner.
26' Bengaluru players are just passing the ball around to frustrate ATK. INJURY! Semboi Haokip is down. The BFC medical staff come in to treat him. The player is fine now!
22' CORNER FOR ATK! Pritam Kotal with the cross from the right wing. Bengaluru's Gursimrat heads it away. And David Williams' corner is cleared away at the far post.
18' GOAAAALLLLL!! DIMAS DELGADO SCORES FOR BFC!!! It was a Bengaluru free-kick and Dimas chose the near post. ATK keeper Dheeraj did get a hand on that but it wasn't enough. The skipper gives the home side a 1-0 lead.
16' POOR CHALLENGE! Parag Shrivas received a long ball from Dimas Delgado and on the turn he was taken out by Salam Ranjan with a silly sliding tackle. No yellow card though. Cuadrat is absolutely furious.
12' CROSS! Sumit Rath with a cross from the left flank. But David Williams is unable to get to the ball. FOUL! Michael Regin executes a rash tackle on Harmanjot Khabra. FREE-KICK FOR BFC!
9' SAVE! Prabhsukhan Gill blocks Roy Krishna's shot. It was from a difficult angle and straight at the ATK keeper. The rebound is immediately cleared away by Kima.
6' FOUL! Bengaluru's Semboi Haokip brings down Victor Mongil of ATK and the referee blows his whistle. Sunil Chhetri and Eugeneson Lyngdoh are watching on from the stands.
3' FREE-KICK FOR BENGALURU! Dimas Delgado steps up to take it. And Salam Ranjan Singh clears the ball away from the ATK box.
AND THE MATCH BEGINS!
A number of players have been rested today, especially by the home side. Bengaluru has an AFC cup qualifying playoff on Wednesday, while ATK doesn't want to risk players who are already on three yellow cards. A fourth one will rule the player out of the semifinal first leg.
The players are out!
A win for Bengaluru FC tonight will confirm third place for the side. ATK, on the other hand, will finish second behind FC Goa in the 2019-20 Indian Super League (ISL) standings, even if it loses tonight.
TEAM LINEUPS:
Bengaluru FC : Prabhsukhan Singh(G), Gursimrat Singh, Albert Serran, Sairuat Kima, Juan Gonzalez, Parag Shrivas, Harmanjot Khabra, Dimas Delgado(C), Leon Augustine, Kevaughn Frater, Semboi Haokip.
COACH: Carles Cuadrat.
ATK : Dheeraj Singh(G), John Johnson, Victor Mongil, Pritam Kotal(C), Sumit Rathi, Salam Ranjan Singh, Pronay Halder, Michael Regin, Jayesh Rane, David Williams, Roy Krishna.
COACH: Antonio Lopez Habas.
MATCH PREVIEW:
With its eyes firmly set on the must-win AFC Cup playoff second-leg tie against Maziya S&RC the coming Wednesday and the first-leg of the ISL playoff the subsequent Sunday, third-placed Bengaluru FC will look to give key players a rest when it meets ATK at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Saturday.
BFC coach Carles Cuadrat confirmed that as many as seven players will be handed their first starts of the season. “As a coach I want to win and I have a lot of respect for ATK,” he said on Friday. “But looking at how important the games on February 26, March 1 and March 7 are.. like three finals….I’ll rotate.”
“We could afford to get zero points against Kerala and zero points against ATK and still qualify. That says a lot about our consistency. We are the only team to have a 100% record of reaching playoffs -- three seasons, three playoffs.”
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However, leading into the contest, the club has only one win from four games across competitions, including defeats in the last two matches. But Cuadrat pointed to the business end of the previous season where it had a similar record but went on to win the ISL.
“We have to see what’s best for the team. Last season just before the finals we got only one victory in six games. If we lose to ATK…it can happen because a lot of young players are going to play… it’s going to be one victory in five games. It’s still better [than last year]. So we can relax a bit in our mind.”
It remains to be seen if ATK, which has sewed up second position, will also bench its stars. It is coming off a 3-1 defeat to Chennaiyin FC on home soil despite starting with the likes of Roy Krishna (14 goals) and Edu Garcia. Experienced centre-back Anas Edathodika has been ruled out for six months following an injury.
- Match broadcast details -
The match can be viewed live on Star Sports 2 and 2 HD from 7.30 pm, while Hotstar will provide live streaming online.
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