AIFF Media Team
Bengaluru FC 4 (Rahul Bheke 39th, Sunil Chhetri (P) 68th and 90th; Nicolas Fedor (Miku – 71st)
beat
Kingfisher East Bengal 1 (Kromah 28’)
BHUBANESWAR: JSW Bengaluru FC came back from a goal down to beat a 10-man Kingfisher East Bengal 4-1 in the inaugural Hero Super Cup final. At the Kalinga Stadium here on Friday (April 20, 2018).
Two goals from captain Sunil Chettri and one each from Rahul Bheke and Nicolas Fedor (Miku) ensured that the early lead taken by East Bengal through Kromah did not stop their march to victory.
Bengaluru made the more positive start pressing high trying to wrest control of the midfield early. Off a counter-attack, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Bengaluru FC Goalkeeper got the first booking of the match when Kromah broke free and Gurpreet brought him down just outside the Bengaluru box.
The game came to life in the 28th minute when East Bengal took the lead quite against the run of play. Off the fourth East Bengal corner which was fisted away by Gurpreet, Kromah pulled off a lobbed back volley from inside the box which went in despite a desperate Erik Partalau’s valiant attempt to keep it out.
BFC equalised in the 39th minute when Rahul Bheke scored against his former Club to get Bengaluru back on level terms – heading in a corner.
Minutes before the interval, East Bengal were reduced to 10-men when Samad Ali Mallick was red-carded for a rough tackle on rival defender Subhashish Bose.
Changing over, East Bengal started the second half in a positive fashion. Kromah did even manage to put the ball into the rival net but the flag had gone up earlier.
Gurpreet then rose to the occasion keeping off an Al Amna free-kick and then, the lanky custodian also thwarted a powerful Ladanmawia Ralte pile-driver.
However, the game changed with the introduction of Toni Dovale in the 61st minute in place of Erik Paartalu for Bengaluru FC. Dovale took control playing in tandem with Miku and Victor Perez.
BFC surged into the lead in the 68th minute. Off a corner, Gurwinder Singh handled the ball and the referee pointed to the spot from which Sunil Chetri gleefully converted it.
Three minutes later in the 71st minute, a Dovale-Perez combo from midfield found Miku inside the box, who sidestepped his marker and blasted it in.
Deservedly, the skipper finished it off in the 90th minute, when off an Udanta cross, Chhetri rose above Lalram Chullova in the East Bengal defence to head it in.
Chhetri was declared the Hero of the match while Miku was declared the hero of the tournament.
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