Bhubaneswar, Apr 21: Skipper Sunil Chettri led from the front with double strikes as JSW Bengaluru FC came back from a goal down to notch up a dominating 4-1 win over 10-man Kingfisher East Bengal in the finals to claim the inaugural Super Cup trophy on Friday.
Two goals from 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 at the Kalinga Stadium.
Bengaluru made a positive start and tried 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 scored against his former Club by 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 even managed 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.
Soon BFC surged into the lead in the 68th minute when Gurwinder Singh handled the ball off a corner and the referee pointed to the spot from which Chettri gleefully converted.
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.
My team has been most consistent this season: Albert Roca
Lavishing praise on his boys for claiming the inaugural Hero Super Cup, Bengaluru FC coach Alberto Roca described his team as the most consistent side in the domestic circuit this season.
Skipper Sunil Chettri led from the front with double strikes as Bengaluru FC came back from a goal down to notch up a dominating 4-1 win over 10-man Kingfisher East Bengal in the final.
“I am very happy for the supporters. This is the success we were looking forward to. Today we showed that my team has been the most consistent team this season,” Roca said moments after the dominating win.
“We were a little bit down in the first 20 minutes. They were very aggressive. I also need to congratulate East Bengal for their performance in the season.
“I am very happy for the way my team performed in the tournament. Three of the games we came from back from a goal down. It’s very credible.”
Referring to the Guard of honour which the Bengaluru FC team gave to the East Bengal players prior to the prize distribution ceremony, Roca said it was a “manner to show respect” to the “deserving opponents.”
“East Bengal had a very good tournament. They deserved to be in the final and even with 10-men they made it so difficult for us. I understand the supporters of East Bengal may be a bit sad at the moment but they should be proud of them and the manner they played in the tournament.”
Meanwhile, East Bengal coach Khalid Jamil said that his “boys worked hard.”
“Everybody worked very hard, especially the players. But the result was not in our favour. All the credit goes to the players,” he maintained.
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