Kings Survive Bengaluru scare

Bashundhara Kings were held to a goalless draw by Bengaluru FC in their second Group D match of the AFC Cup at the male National Stadium in Maldives yesterday.

The Bangladesh champions, who started their campaign with a 2-0 win against Maziya S&RC on Wednesday, were given a stern test by the ISL outfit, who had lost their opening match 2-0 against ATK Mohun Bagan.

Kings will wrap up their campaign against Mohun Bagan on Tuesday. Only one team from the group will qualify for the inter-zonal semifinals.

Although Bengaluru coach Marco Pezzaiuoli made three changes to his starting eleven, Kings coach Oscar Bruzon decided to stick with the same players, who had dispatched the Maldivian champions with ease.

The Bangladesh champions looked comfortable defending their own in the first half, not being too adventurous as they waited for the opposition to move out of their comfort zone. Robson Robinho was the most threatening for the Kings as he almost snuck in through the Bengaluru defence on 21 minutes only to be brought down on the edge of the box.

Jonathan Fernandes, the other Brazilian in Kings' ranks, had a swerving shot thwarted by Bengaluru keeper Gurpreet Singh on 35 minutes before Bishwanath Ghosh made an excellent tackle to deny Roshan Singh from releasing a shot on goal following a nice one-two with Sunil Chhetri.

Robinho almost gave Kings the lead 10 minutes into the second half as he latched on to a square-pass from Biplu Ahmed and managed to poke the ball towards the goal, but Sandhu's outstretched left-foot took the pace off the ball before Roshan raced back to clear the ball from in front of the goalline.

While Bruzon's single substitution – Mohammad Ibrahim on for Mahbubur Rahman Sufil – brought a little more cutting edge to Kings' attacks, the Bangladesh champions were made to work hard to keep their fort safe as a string of substitutions saw Bengaluru dictating terms in the final third. The last 20 minutes belonged to the Indian side as Chhetri, Alan Costa and Cleiton Silva combined to pound the Kings' goal with countless attacks.

Anisur Rahman Zico made a double save on 71 minutes before keeping out Cleiton's left-footed shot had 10 minutes later, but in the meanwhile, was lucky to see Costa's header bouncing off the crossbar and not completely crossing the goalline.

While the possession was equally dominated by both teams, the difference between the number of attempts – six for Kings against 14 for Bengaluru – suggest Bruzon would be relieved to have come away with a point.  Zico admitted that in the post-match interview. "They (Bengaluru) played with great intensity as they needed a victory to stay in the competition. We did well to come out with a draw. Now the next match against Mohun Bagan will be our final."