KOZHIKODE: Bengaluru FC finished atop Group A of the Super Cup and made their way into the semifinals with a 1-1 against Kerala Blasters here on Sunday.
Roy Krishna’s early strike was cancelled out by Diamantakos in the second period, but it was defeat for fellow semifinal aspirants Sreenidi Deccan against RoundGlass Punjab that helped the Blues on their way to a final-four clash against Jamshedpur FC.
Ahead of the game, Bengaluru head coach Simon Grayson rolled out an attacking side as Udanta Singh replaced Parag Shrivas, while Roy Krishna partnered Sunil Chhetri in the final third, in place of Sivasakthi Narayanan.
The Blasters, meanwhile, made five changes to the XI that started in their 2-0 defeat to Sreenidi Deccan on Wednesday.
The Blues dominated the early proceedings with quick interplay, utilising the pace of Udanta and Naorem Roshan Singh on the flanks.
Udanta was in the thick of things early on, when Danish Farooq brought him down in the Blasters’ half in the eighth minute.
The resulting free-kick, taken by Javi Hernandez, deflected off Victor Mongil’s head and went over the crossbar.
Grayson’s men made their good start count in the 22nd minute, when Hernandez beat his marker before setting Krishna through on goal.
Although the Fijian’s initial effort was saved by Blasters’ goalkeeper Sachin Suresh, Krishna persevered to score on the rebound; his shot heaped over the line by Mongil’s attempted clearance.
Both teams continued to make forays into the final third, but Bengaluru’s defence ensured that Gurpreet remained the less busier of the two goalkeepers going in at half-time.
In the day’s other match played simultaneously, at Manjeri, RoundGlass Punjab FC beat I-League compatriots Sreenidi Deccan 1-0 in their final Group A game to end the competition on a positive note.
Hmingthanmawia scored for the winners.
RGPFC finished the tournament with three points from three matches while SDFC secured four points from their three games.
RGPFC head coach Staikos Vergetis made two changes to the starting lineup, bringing in Mohammed Salah and Brandon Vanlalremdika instead of Huidrom Naocha Singh and Ajay Chhetri.
I-League runners-up SDFC coach Carlos Manuel Pinto named his strongest lineup who were in the race to qualify for the semi-finals from the group.
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