Bengaluru eye vital victory

Westwood confident of his side's chances against Aizawl

Defending Federation Cup champions Bengaluru FC’s hopes of adding further silverware to another successful season lies in the balance as they take on a determined Aizawl FC here on Tuesday.

After retaining their I-League title -- their second triumph in three years of their existence -- Bengaluru FC have appeared to gone a bit off the boil. Two losses from three games, including the 1-2 opening leg defeat at the hands of the Aizawl, have somewhat dampened the celebratory mood.

Call it the end of season fatigue, the satisfaction of having won the I-League crown or Asian priorities, the Blues haven’t necessarily looked their part in the last fortnight. Barring the 2-1 defeat of Lao Toyota FC that propelled them into the knockout phase of the AFC Cup, the Blues have struggled to impose themselves.

The Blues, though, know a simple 1-0 win over Aizawl FC in a late night kick-off at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium -- match is scheduled to start at 9 pm -- on Tuesday will put them course to successfully defending the Federation Cup.

“We are confident,” exuded BFC coach Ashley Westwood. “We are at home and have a good record here. We played really well in the first 30 minutes (of the away fixture). We should have been 4-0 up to be honest. We hit the post once, one cleared off the line, one good chance (we missed) and of course the penalty claim as well.  “May be a bit of fatigue kicked in later. A lot of travel was there and a bit of our concentration got lost. I feel we didn’t have a lot of luck with the penalties. One with Daniel (Lalhlimpuia) and also Udanta (Singh). On any other day, we would have won 10-2. But I wasn’t meant to be. Hopefully we will get a lot of chances tomorrow and we’ll take it through,” added the Englishman. Although BFC and Aizawl played the opening leg just two days ago, the good news for the Blues is that all their main players will be available for the return clash.

“We have got a big and good squad where there are 20-22 people in contention. We have recovered well because we eat well and our nutrition is good,” opined Westwood.
While BFC, having got the crucial away goal and boasting of a strong squad, will start favourites at their fortress despite very little recovery time, debutantes Aizwal need to produce another superb effort if they wish to progress. They finished eighth in the nine-team I-League and were lucky to snatch a late winner against BFC at their home.

Another major issue that could dictate the proceedings is the pitch, with the Junior Federation Cup athletics kicking off at the same venue on Tuesday morning.

“The turf is fairly hard and since it’s not raining, there won’t be a big effect. Shot puts and javelins, unless you throw a million of them, won’t impact the grass much. It should be okay. It should impact a little still. But if it’s terrible, we will go back to the old English 4-4-2 (formation) and smash it,” said Westwood.

Aizawl FC coach Jahar Das felt BFChold the advantage. “It’s not our advantage, it’s theirs. They are playing at their home ground and definitely a team like Bengaluru will not want to go out in the opening round. They are a good team, no doubt, otherwise they wouldn’t have been champions. But sometimes you don’t get the results you expect.

“The match at Aizawl, they were tired, no doubt about it. In case we can manage to keep them 30 minutes, maybe we can do something. And that has helped us. So their tiredness we took advantage. It will be an equal fight.”