FC Goa 2 (2) [Borja Herrera 49’, Armando Sadiku 88’]
lost on aggregate to
Bengaluru FC 1 (3) [Sunil Chhetri 90+2’]

GOA: Bengaluru FC qualified for a record fourth final of the Indian Super League (ISL) 2024-25 on Sunday, April 6, 2025 after a 3-2 aggregate win against FC Goa in the semi-final.

Though the Blues lost the second leg at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium 2-1, their 2-0 win from the first game of this fixture earlier this week ensured that they entered the summit clash. Sunil Chhetri (90+2’) scored the decisive goal in injury time of the second half. Borja Herrera (49’) and Armando Sadiku (88’) scored for FC Goa.

The Gaurs looked to set the tone of this game from the onset, with Boris Singh hammering a shot from distance over the target. In the very next move, Udanta Singh supplied a precise pass to Iker Guarrotxena inside the 18-yard box, which the attacker kicked high and wide to the left. Though these endeavours did not materialise into goals, they spoke volumes about FC Goa’s intent to cut the deficit early on.

In the 13th minute, Dejan Drazic swung into the thick of things, pouncing upon a delivery by Aakash Sangwan to direct the ball right at the centre of the goal. However, the eventual shot lacked the required pace.

FC Goa’s positive momentum finally paid off in the form of a goal from Borja Herrera in the 49th minute. They pushed numbers ahead at the start of the second half too, and a free-kick from the edge of the penalty area propelled them to find their way back in the contest. Herrera stepped up on the set-piece duties and smashed the ball into the bottom left corner through impeccable precision to bring up his team’s first goal of this semi-final tie.

The Manolo Márquez-coached team had plenty of close chances coming their way in the forthcoming phase of the game too. Ayush Dev Chhetri miscued a shot from inside the box in the 69th minute, and it was followed with Udanta’s cross to Guarrotxena being headed on target by the latter. None of the two shots had the finesse required to find their way past Gurpreet Singh Sandhu though.

The stage was set perfectly for an exciting concluding passage of the encounter. Sangwan’s prowess from lateral zones was optimised in the 89th minute when his cross was nodded by Armando Sadiku from the centre of the box into the bottom right corner to level the scores.

The goal, however, stimulated Bengaluru FC to rediscover their offensive instincts as they immediately rushed to outnumber the FC Goa backline, resulting in Sandesh Jhingan and Brison Fernandes conceding hasty corners in the added time. In the consequence of one such corner kick, Namgyal Bhutia whipped in a cross that was received and headed by Sunil Chhetri into the goal, bagging the Blues a place in the summit clash.

(Courtesy: ISL Media Team)