ISL: Bengaluru FC win 1-0 after Kerala Blasters FC forfeit match, BFC advance to semi-finals

Sunil
Chhetri
scored
the
only
goal
of
the
match
in
the
seventh
minute
of
extra
time
to
add
a
ninth
consecutive
win
for
his
team,
which
confirmed
a
semi-final
berth
for
them.

The
Blasters
dominated
possession
in
the
first
half
but
couldn’t
get
past
Gurpreet
Singh
Sandhu
in
the
Bengaluru
FC
goal.
Relying
on
the
quick
feet
of
Roy
Krishna
and
Sivasakthi
Narayanan,
the
Blues
were
content
to
play
on
the
counter.

ISL
Controversy:
Kerala
Blasters
forfeit
match
against
Bengaluru
FC,
BFC
awarded
the
victory

The
hosts
had
six
shots
in
the
first
half,
but
only
one
on
target.
Three
of
those
shots
were
attempted
by
Krishna.
The
Fijian
registered
the
only
shot
on
target
of
the
half
in
the
24th
minute
from
a
tight
angle.
Gill
almost
parried
it
straight
into
the
path
of
Hernandez,
but
it
was
cleared
away
for
a
corner
from
which
Krishna
failed
to
keep
his
header
on
target.
Three
minutes
after
the
half-hour-mark,
Danish
Farooq’s
glancing
header
from
a
corner
was
missed
by
an
unmarked
Victor
Mongil
at
the
far
post
before
the
flag
went
up
for
offside
against
the
defender.

The
second
half
was
much
the
same,
as
the
visitors
kept
more
of
the
ball
and
the
hosts
waited
to
launch
on
the
counter.
The
Blasters
had
a
chance
to
test
the
keeper
via
a
free
kick
in
the
53rd
minute,
but
Adrian
Luna
skied
it.
Around
the
hour-mark,
Suresh
Wangjam’s
effort
from
outside
the
box
flew
through
traffic
and
forced
a
palm
behind
for
a
corner
by
Gill
at
full
stretch.

In
the
final
quarter
of
the
match,
the
Blasters
pressed
further
up
the
pitch,
but
the
Bengaluru
FC
defence
kept
its
shape
to
deflect
attacks.
In
the
83rd
minute,
Dimitrios
Diamantakos
registered
his
side’s
first
shot
on
target
but
his
header
was
claimed
comfortably
by
Sandhu
before
the
game
went
into
extra
time.
In
the
first
minute
of
extra
time,
Rahul
KP
tried
his
luck
from
range
as
his
shot
picked
up
a
flick
from
Luna
and
went
inches
wide
at
the
far
post.
Bengaluru
FC
responded
instantly
at
the
other
end
as
Bruno
Ramires
got
his
head
to
a
corner
but
sent
it
over
the
bar.
In
the
seventh
minute
of
extra
time,
a
quickly
taken
free
kick
by
Chhetri
flew
into
the
back
of
the
net.
The
Blasters
forfeited
the
match
in
disagreement
with
the
decision
and
a
win
was
awarded
to
Bengaluru
FC.

Bengaluru
FC
advanced
to
the
next
stage
of
the
Hero
ISL
playoffs.
The
Blues
will
take
on
League
Shield
Winners
Mumbai
City
FC
next
in
a
two-legged
semi-final
on
March
7
and
12
which
starts
with
an
away
trip.

(excerpt
from
agency)