Former champions Bengaluru FC, rode on first-half goals from Rahul Bheke and Sunil Chhetri and a second-half brace by Jorge Peryra Diaz, to put it across the Indian Navy Football Team (INFT) 4-0, in a Group B encounter at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (VYBK).
Gerard Zaragoza, Bengaluru’s Spanish manager, played the combination of Sivasakthi and Australian striker Ryan Williams upfront starting the likes of talisman Sunil Chhetri and new recruit Jorge Peryra-Diaz on the bench. The Navy’s Raman Rai began with a tried and trusted eleven, with last year’s captain and defence bulwark Dalraj Singh, on the bench.
The Blues did not disappoint in the rain, taking full advantage of the absence of someone like Dalraj to step on the gas from get-go.
Sivasakthi could have got a hat-trick in the first 15-minutes, but instead it was the experienced India centre-back Rahul Bheke who scored the first goal of the game. Off Alberto Noguera Ripoll’s corner, Bheke charged away from his marker onto the first post and rose to deflect his header past the navy keeper Vishnu.
Zaragoza then made his first move and brought on Chhetri and he scored with his first touch, converting a penalty after Navjot was shown a red card for a foul on Williams inside the box.
The second-half followed the pattern of the first with Bengaluru dominating, despite Raman Rai bringing in Dalraj. The only goal of the half however, came as late as in the 80th minute.
After yet another of Zaragoza’s substitutes Peryra Diaz had missed a sitter thanks to Vishnu’s continued heroics, he was setup with a delicate chip, as Chhetri turned provider this time after gathering a second-ball inside the box off a corner. The Argentine placed the header safely past Vishnu for his first of the tournament.
His second came in the first minute of added time when Ripoll found him with a lob from his own half and the Argentine gamely charged down the pitch to place it past Vishnu into the bottom left corner.
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