AFC Blues storm into inter-zone finals
New Delhi, Sept. 13: Bengaluru FC advanced to the inter-zone finals of the Asian Football Confederation Cup by a 30 aggregate margin after playing out a goalless draw in their second leg away match with 4.25 SC of North Korea in Pyongyang on Wednesday.
Bengaluru, runners-up last year, went into the match holding a 3-0 home leg advantage and denied the home side a goal at the May Day Stadium, buoyed by goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu’s penalty save, in front of 6,500 spectators.
They next face Tajikistan’s FC Istiklol, the 2015 finalists, in a twolegged inter-zone final. Istiklol beat Ceres Negros FC of the Philippines 5-1 on aggregate in their semi-final.
Bengaluru will travel to Tajikistan on September 27 before they host Istiklol in the second leg at the Sree Kanteerava stadium on October 18.
The winners of the contest will face either Syria’s Al Wahda or Air Force Club of Iraq in the 2017 final on November 4.
BFC reached Pyongyang on Monday and didn’t get much time to practice ahead of the crucial match but defended doggedly to secure a positive result.
Sandhu, who joined Bengaluru last month, saved a penalty in the 75th minute.
The India number one custodian’s sharp anticipation prevented BFC from facing anxious moments in the first 15 minutes of the contest.
Bengaluru were superior in the first leg on August 23 thanks to goals from Sunil Chhetri, Udanta Singh and Lenny Rodrigues.
But there were no such fireworks on Wednesday with both teams firing blanks in front of goal. BFC coach Alberto Roca named an unchanged XI from their first leg win, persisting with the front three of Udanta, Chhetri and Toni Dovale in a 4-3-3 formation.