Chennaiyin FC delivered a solid display to defeat FC Goa 4-1 while Bengaluru FC survive last minute scare to beat ATK 1-0 in the first leg of the Semi-Finals
1st Semi-Final (First Leg) – Chennaiyin v/s FC Goa
After a goalless first half, goals from Lucian Goian (54′), Anirudh Thapa (61′), Eli Sabia (77′) and Lallianzuala Chhangte (79′) delivered the goods for the hosts and secured a crucial lead ahead of the second leg fixture away from home. Saviour Gama (85′) came off the bench to score a vital away goal for FC Goa, as the League Winners endured their worst defeat of the season so far. Without the presence of injured Hugo Boumous and Brandon Fernandes, Goa struggled to find their usual rhythm in the attacking third in the first half. And as a result, it was the energetic attack of the home side that threatened to score first.
After a slow start, Goa created an opening after the half an hour mark when Ferran Corominas charged forward through the middle to initiate a quick breakaway. The striker found Manvir Singh’s run, who then laid the ball off for Seriton Fernandes to shoot. Goalkeeper Vishal Kaith was alert to the danger and produced a good low save.
A confident Chennaiyin finally got the deserving lead from a set-piece. A free-kick was lobbed inside the box where the goalkeeper rushed out to catch and missed, allowing Lucian to leap high and head home for the opener.
| Player | Country | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| Nerijus Valskis | Lithuania | 13 |
| Rafael Crivellaro | Brazil | 7 |
| Lallianzuala Chhangte | India | 5 |
| Andre Schembri | Malta | 5 |
| Masih Saighani | Afghanistan | 1 |
| Lucian Goian | Romania | 1 |
Chennaiyin doubled their lead through a brilliant goal from Thapa, who was fed just outside the box by Jerry Lalrinzuala. Thapa took a couple of touches before unleashing a shot from outside the box that found the top corner, leaving the keeper with no chance.
The hosts punished bad defending by Goa and added two goals before the end of 90 minutes. Nerijus Valskis executed a fine give-and-go on the left flank, dribbled to the byline and delivered the ball across the face of the goal for Eli Sabia who placed the ball into the net.
Thapa set Chhangte up inside the box with a simple pass and the Indian winger struck the ball hard into the net to score Chennaiyin’s fourth goal as Goa looked shell-shocked.
The visitors, however, pulled a goal back in the 85th minute to keep the contest alive. Goian failed to clear a lofted ball into the box by Jahouh and it fell to substitute Saviour who found the net with an easy finish.
2nd Semi-Final (First Leg) – Bengaluru FC v/s ATK
Ten-man Bengaluru FC registered a narrow 1-0 goal win against ATK in the first leg of their Hero Indian Super League semi-final clash at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium. Deshorn Brown’s opportunistic strike (31′) proved to be the difference in what was a closely-fought first leg battle. Edu Garcia kicked off an even contest with a shot from outside the box that went wide in the second minute. Bengaluru soon made their presence felt when Dimas Delgado whipped a dangerous ball into the box. Rahul Bheke rose the highest inside the box but his header flew inches over the crossbar. ATK’s dangerous duo, Roy Krishna and David Williams, combined well to put the ball into the net in the 17th minute. Krishna found his teammate with a well-timed lob in behind the Blues defence. Williams handled the ball as he brought it down and struck it brilliantly past Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and the goal was eventually disallowed due to the handball.
The hosts continue to put pressure on the ATK defence and their effort bore fruit a minute after the half an hour mark. Gurpreet’s punt from his own half ended up at the feet of Juanan whose shot from inside the box was hit straight at Arindam Bhattacharya. The ATK custodian messed up the save and spilt the ball into the path of Deshorn Brown who broke the deadlock.
Brown had a chance to double his team’s lead when he received the ball outside the box before the break. The striker unleashed a piledriver that flew inches over the bar, much to the relief of Arindam in ATK’s goal.
As ATK pressed for an equaliser after the break, Bengaluru tried to make use of the vacant space in behind the visitors’ defence. Three minutes after the restart, Brown latched on to a ball in behind the defence, cut in from the right and floated a cross towards the left-hand side of the box for Sunil Chhetri whose header was tipped over by Arindam.
| Player | Country | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| Sunil Chhetri | India | 9 |
| Deshorn Brown | Jamaica | 2 |
| Erik Paartalu | Australia | 2 |
| Dimas Delgado | Spain | 1 |
| Rahul Bheke | India | 1 |
| Juanan | Spain | 1 |
| Udanta Singh | India | 1 |
| Albert Serrán | Spain | 1 |
| Nishu Kumar | India | 1 |
| Kevaughn Frater | Jamaica | 1 |
| Thongkhosiem Haokip | India | 1 |
John Johnson nearly unlocked the Blues defence with a wonderful diagonal ball after the hour-mark into the feet of Michael Soosairaj. The Indian winger tried to beat his marker from the left flank, but Suresh Wangjam put in a good block to clear the danger and stop the ATK winger’s charge.
Bengaluru suffered a late blow when Nishu Kumar was sent off for a tug on Krishna. The Fijian striker was brought down outside the box by the full-back and the latter’s last-man challenge was punished by the referee.
ATK, however, were unable to force an equaliser and now have to come from behind in the reverse leg in Kolkata next Sunday.
This article was originally published in NDTV.com