Bengaluru FC ensured their progress to the Group Stages of the 2021 AFC Cup with a 1-0 win over Club Eagles at the National Stadium, in Male.
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Bengaluru FC ensured their progress to the Group Stages of the 2021 AFC Cup with a 1-0 win over Club Eagles. Jayesh Rane’s first half strike proved to be the difference between the two sides. Marco Pezzaiuoli’s side join ATK Mohun Bagan, Maziya S&RC and Bashundhara Kings in Group D.
Jayesh Rane’s goal took Marco Pezzaiuoli’s Blues past Club Eagles and into the AFC Cup group stages.@TimesOfIndia reports on #BFCvEFC.#WeAreBFC? #BluesInAsia? #MediaWatch?https://t.co/EzVjkaBzOw
— Bengaluru FC (@bengalurufc) August 16, 2021
Manager Pezzaiuoli handed full debuts to Alan Costa, Sarthak Golui, Jayesh and Rohit Kumar. New signings, Danish Farooq and Bidyashagar Singh were named among the substitutes alongside B-team graduate Sivasakthi Narayanan.
On the other side, Mohamed Shaazly was forced to make a late change to his starting eleven. Easa Ismail replacing Ali Ashfaq after a late injury.
Club Eagles started bright, they managed to get the ball in the back of the net in the 17th minute, but Sarthak Golui stepped up at the right moment to catch Easa offside. The Local outfit Club Eagles looked impressive on the wings with their pace. But BFC was equal to the task, with Rane putting the visitors ahead before the half an hour mark. Rane fired in a powerful low shot from inside the box and gave Bengaluru the much-needed lead.
“Scoring on my debut is a big deal for me. It was a tough game but we were the fitter side and it showed.”
BFC TV caught up with Jayesh Rane to get his thoughts following the Blues’ defeat of Club Eagles.#WeAreBFC #BluesInAsia #BFCvEFC pic.twitter.com/Km3fuDsGeP
— Bengaluru FC (@bengalurufc) August 16, 2021
Gurpreet Singh Sandhu was called into action a minute before half time. From an Eagles corner, the ball took a deflection off Sarthak and was creeping in but Gurpreet showed his reflexes to push it away.
BFC continued to keep possession at the start of the second half. There was hardly any intensity with the visitors intent just to hold on to the lead. The hosts were struggling to put passes together.
In the 65th minute, Bengaluru FC survived a scare as Ali Fasir had a golden opportunity to put Eagles level. He went one-on-one with Gurpreet in the box after going past the defence but failed to hit the target.
In the 83rd minute, there was a chance for Leon Augustine with the Eagles goalkeeper out of his position, but the midfielder failed to keep the ball on target.
Despite a late flurry of attacks from Eagles, the Blues held firm to see out the game. Making sure they seal their spot in Group D of the 2021 AFC Cup.
The Blues will be back in action on August 18 when they take on ATK Mohun Bagan in their opening group stage clash, at the National Stadium, in Male.
