Bengaluru,mar 12:
Bengaluru FC sealed their place in the final of the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) for the second successive year with a 3-0 win against NorthEast United FC in the second leg of the play-off here Monday.
The Blues, who were dominant throughout the game at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, were made to work hard by a resilient NorthEast United who were finally outdone by a 72nd-minute goal from Miku.Late strikes from Dimas Delgado (87′) and Sunil Chhetri (90+2′) followed as Bengaluru overturned the 2-1 defeat in the first leg.
The aggregate score read 4-2 in favour of the Blues who will now look to land their first ever ISL title on Sunday.
After a dominant first few minutes by Bengaluru, it were NorthEast who threatened first against the run of play.
Federico Gallego nicked the ball off Dimas’s feet and charged at the Bengaluru defence. The Uruguayan fed Juan Mascia into the box who, with just Gurpreet Singh to beat, shot straight at the goalkeeper from a narrow angle.
With NorthEast posing a threat from counter-attacks, Miku missed two glorious chances to score in the space of two minutes. In the 23rd minute, Nishu Kumar delivered a delightful cross into the centre of the box from the left flank but Miku headed it over the bar.
Two minutes later, Udanta Singh was released down the right flank and the winger’s cut-back from the byline was sent wide from close-range by the Venezuelan striker.
Miku nearly made amends for his misses with a terrific solo run after the half an hour mark. The striker shimmied past multiple NorthEast players on his way into the box, but sent a weak effort straight into the gloves of Pawan Kumar.
The visitors rang the alarm bell again before the break as Mascia’s thunderous strike from outside the box swerved towards goal but Gurpreet kept his eyes on the ball to make a good save.
Bengaluru got off the blocks quickly after the restart and put pressure on NorthEast United defence but brilliant saves from Pawan Kumar kept NorthEast in the game.
