BHUBANESWAR 20-Apr-2018
Bengaluru FC emerged champions in the inaugural edition of the Super Cup Football Tournament as they came back from a goal down to beat a 10-man Kingfisher East Bengal 4-1 in the final at Kalinga Stadium here today. Two goals from captain Sunil Chettri and one each from Rahul Bheke and Nicolas Fedor (Miku) ensured that the early lead taken by East Bengal through Kromah did not stop their march to victory.
The game came to life in the 28th minute when East Bengal took the lead quite against the run of play. Off the fourth East Bengal corner which was fisted away by Gurpreet, Kromah pulled off a lobbed back volley from inside the box which went in despite a desperate Erik Partalau’s valiant attempt to keep it out.
BFC equalised in the 39th minute when Rahul Bheke scored against his former Club to get Bengaluru back on level terms – heading in a corner. Minutes before the interval, East Bengal were reduced to 10-men when Samad Ali Mallick was red-carded for a rough tackle on rival defender Subhashish Bose.
BFC surged into the lead in the 68th minute. Off a corner, Gurwinder Singh handled the ball and the referee pointed to the spot from which Sunil Chetri gleefully converted it. Three minutes later in the 71st minute, a Toni Dovale-Victor Perez combo from midfield found Miku inside the box and he sidestepped his marker and blasted it in.
Deservedly, the skipper finished it off in the 90th minute, when off an Udanta cross, Chhetri rose above Lalram Chullova in the East Bengal defence to head it in.Chhetri was declared the man of the match while Miku was declared the man of the tournament.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik graced the closing ceremony as chief guest and handed over the trophy to the champion team. The champion club received a cheque of Rs 25 lakh, while the runners-up side took home Rs 15 lakh.
Sports Minister Chandra Sarathi Behera, Odisha Football Association president Debashish Samantray, AIFF senior vice-president Subrat Dutta, State Sports Secretary Vishal Kumar Dev and Director R Vinnel Krishna were present on the occasion.
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PHOTOS: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik with Super Cup champions Bengaluru FC in Bhubaneswar on April 20, 2018.
