Durand Cup: Chhetri’s dagger seals 3-0 win for BFC on skipper’s birthday

KOLKATA — Former champions Bengaluru FC secured a comfortable 3-0 victory over I-League outfit Inter Kashi in Group B match of the Durand Cup played at the Kishore Bharati Krirangan (KBK). The goals were scored by their Spanish recruits Edgar Mendez and Alberto Noguera Ripoll, with the final strike coming from their talisman Sunil Chhetri.

After their opening four-goal win against the Indian Navy, the Blues maintained a 100% record while Inter Kashi, who drew their first game against Mohammedan Sporting, will look to win big in their final group game to harbour hopes of going through.

The Pilgrims could not get a shot at goal in the first-half as the Blues took control of possession and most of the attacking forays. Inter Kashi’s defence however did well to thwart most of their efforts at goal till Panicker’s discretion in bringing the ball down with his chest inside the box cost them dearly. The referee pointed to the spot and Mendez broke the deadlock to make it 1-0.

After the break, Gerard Zaragoza introduced all his big guns including Jorge Peryra Diaz and Ryan Williams, besides Chhetri who had two chances to score within minutes of coming on.

They had to eventually wait till the 77th minute for the second as Ripoll, who had been having a brilliant game in midfield, finished a move he himself initiated. He found Chhetri making a run inside the box on the right who crossed for Peryra Diaz to back-heel to Ripoll who had come in following the move. The Spanish midfielder made no mistake with the right-footed finish past Dhas.

Soon the third came when Chhetri nonchalantly came rushing in to the near post off a corner and leaped to direct his header down perfectly, beating Dhas yet again. It could have been worse for Inter Kashi but Ryan Williams missed a penalty when Anand Usuda brought him down inside the box.