AFC Cup: Bengaluru FC bow out with goalless draw against Bashundhara Kings

Male [Maldives], August 21 Bengaluru FC fought hard but couldn’t beat Bengaluru FC in their AFC Cup Group D South Zone encounter at the National Football Stadium in Male on Saturday. The 0-0 draw meant they are not in contention for the inter-zone semi-final anymore.
The Blues started the game on the front foot, and the first good chance came with just five minutes on the clock when Danish’s lob picked out Bidyashagar’s run, and the youngster’s shot from the edge of the box was blocked by Bashundhara skipper Topu Barman. Jayesh Rane’s effort from the rebound rolled wide.
Bashundhara won a free-kick at the edge of the box in the 15th minute after Danish tripped Barman, but Suresh intercepted Robinho’s pass and made sure the set-piece came to nothing. Naorem Roshan Singh’s long diagonal in the 21st minute found Cleiton Silva, but the Brazilian’s attempted to give and go with Bidyashagar found the winger crowded out by the Bashundhara defence. From that move, the Bangladesh side went on a counter-attack that forced Musavu-King into a tackle that saw him pick up the game’s first yellow card.
Three minutes later, Cleiton’s ball into the box was met by a diving Yrondu Musavu-King, whose header was straight into Bashundhara’s keeper Anisur Rahman’s gloves. At the other end, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu did well to get his palms to Jonathan Reis’ effort from well outside the box, to push away Bashundhara’s hopes of a first-half goal.
On the stroke of halftime, Pezzaiuoli made the first substitution of the game, bringing on Sarthak in place of Parag. The Blues then had the final chance before the break, when Tariq Raihan Kazi tugged Cleiton back to give away a free-kick and pick up a yellow card. The Brazilian’s effort was blocked and Bidyashagar’s shot from the rebound sailed high and wide.
Bashundhara made a change of their own on the other side of the break as Mohammad Ibrahim replaced Mahbubur Rahman. The visitors came close to taking the lead in the 57th minute through Brazilian winger Robinho, whose effort deflected off Gurpreet’s foot and was sailing goalward until Roshan cleared with an acrobatic effort. The ball almost spun back in before Gurpreet pushed away with an outstretched arm.
Attacking with intent, the Blues came close on several occasions in the closing stages. Cleiton skipped past his marker in the 72nd minute and saw his low cross blocked by Topu. Only minutes later, Alan Costa’s header from the striker’s corner deflected off the underside of the bar and looked to have bounced in off the goal line, before ‘keeper Anisur managed to collect. Despite appeals from the Blues, referee Thoriq Munir allowed play to continue.
The Blues had a flurry of late chances as they looked to break the deadlock, with Cleiton involved in the thick of things. The Brazilian’s deflected shot was pushed away by Anisur in the 82nd minute, and Chhetri was first to get the rebound. With the ‘keeper off his line, Chhetri found Rane unmarked, but the midfielder’s effort was blocked by Topu. Minutes later, Leon tried to turn Kazi in the box but the defender stood his ground and did enough to block the winger’s attempted shot.
Pezzaiuoli’s final throw of the dice saw B-Team graduate Sivasakthi Narayanan make his debut, replacing Suresh, but it wasn’t enough as both sides took a point each in their penultimate group stage game.
The deadlock was not broken for the remainder of the game and the Blues found themselves out of the competition. In their last group match on August 24, they play local side Maziya Sports & Recreation.