Former I-League champions Aizawl FC kicked-off the inaugural Super Cup football tournament in style when they knocked out Indian Super League champions Chennaiyin FC 5-3 in a penalty shoot-out in the opening match on Saturday.
Both the team were locked 2-2 after 90 minutes of regulation time and half an hour of extra time to force a tie-breaker. Aizawl converted all their five attempts while Chennaiyin’s Mohammad Rafi failed to score, handing the I-League side a well-deserved win.
The ISL Champions had twice come back in the match when everything looked lost but could not change the course of the match the third time around after Rafi missed the second penalty.
Aizawl FC were the more dominant team in the opening half of the match and were duly rewarded when their Romanian recruit Andrei Ionescu made a brilliant run towards the Chennaiyin goal in the 22nd minute and his long-ranger took a deflection to beat goalkeeper Karanjit Singh.
The ISL champions raided the Aizawl citadel with numerous attacks in search for the equaliser but the 2017 I-League champions managed to thwart those attempts till a minute from the final whistle. Brazilian Mailson Alves pounced on a rebound in the 89th minute to equalise and take the game into extra time.
Ionescu restored Aizawl’s advantage within a minute of re-start but Dhanchandra Singh ensured that there were no celebrations at the end of extra-time by beating the opposition goalkeeper a low shot from outside the box in the 115th minute.
Bengaluru FC to kick-off against Gokulam
With Chennaiyin already knocked out, all eyes would be on Bengaluru FC, who topped the ISL standings at the end of the group stage but were beaten by the eventual champions in the final.
Albert Roca’s side will begin their campaign against Gokulam Kerala FC on Sunday evening and despite their good showing in the Odisha, the manager knows that nothing can be taken for granted.
“It’s true that we have played in Odisha before and come away with some good results and a trophy (Federation Cup, 2017) but tomorrow (April 1) is the beginning of a new tournament against a team we have never played competitively. We will have to be at our best if we are to progress through to the next round,” Roca said during a pre-match media interactions.
Bengaluru met Gokulam Kerala FC twice in closed doors pre-season friendlies at the club’s training facility in Bellary in 2017 and Roca feels Sunday’s opposition have improved massively since.
The Bino George-coached side rode on a Henry Kisekka brace in a 2-0 win over NorthEast United to qualify for the Super Cup earlier in March.
“We know how good Gokulam are because we faced them twice in pre-season and we saw the game against NorthEast United. They have improved a lot since then and I have been watching them closely in the I-League as well. They got some good results towards the end of the League campaign against Mohun Bagan and East Bengal so we will have to be wary of their strengths,” the Spaniard said.
The Blues fly out to Guwahati for their AFC Cup Group E clash against Aizawl FC on Thursday, and Roca stressed the importance of squad depth ahead of a hectic month of fixtures.
“The closing stages of the ISL were tough because many of my players played those games when they weren’t in their best shape. We’re still missing (Harmanjot) Khabra and Dimas (Delgado), who are recovering from their injuries. With the AFC Cup games in between, I will have to rotate my squad and use as many players as I can,” he added.
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