John Johnson scored with the last kick of the game to snatch three points for last season’s runners-up Bengaluru FC in the 2017 AFC Cup against Maziya FC of Maldives. With this win, the Blues now have six points from their opening two fixtures and are well on their way to qualifying for the next stage.
After being rested against Mohun Bagan last weekend, Sunil Chhetri was back in the starting eleven, alongside Udanta Singh and Daniel Lalhlimpuia at the head of a 4-3-3 formation.
The game started in a frenetic manner with Bengaluru earning a free-kick but Sandesh Jhingan clattered into an opposition defender from the resulting kick and had to be taken off temporarily.
Bengaluru enjoyed the lion’s share of possession in the first half but failed to make it count as the home team defended deep. The second half started in pretty much the same vein as Daniel went close after the restart but could not convert from an acute angle.
The Mizo was again teed up by the skipper but could only drag his shot wide. Nishu Kumar and Marjan Jugovic were then brought on as Albert Roca looked to raise the tempo and it almost paid off, as the former put in a cross for Udanta Singh, which he couldn’t get a foot to.
Jhingan then went on for Khabra but John Johnson won it for Bengaluru with an acrobatic shot at the very death. Bengaluru’s next match in the competition is against Bangladeshi team Abhyani, who face Mohun Bagan later on this evening.
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