Bengaluru FC celebrated once again with Mumbai Sunil Chhetri’s goal. Bengaluru beat Mumbai City (1–0) in the first leg semi-final of ISL football with a goal scored by a striker who came on as a substitute with 12 minutes left to play. Chhetri also led Bengaluru to the semi-finals with a controversial free kick goal in the playoffs against Kerala Blasters. This is the 10th consecutive win for the former champions. The second leg will be played at Bangalore on Sunday. Coach Simon Gayson prepared Bengaluru with a precise plan against Shield champions Mumbai, who secured the playoffs first. Defense was the strategy. The defenders did a fine job of countering Mumbai’s strong attack at all costs. In the first half, George Diaz, Laliansuwala Changthe and Bipin Singh were often in front of the Bengaluru goal but scored. Even after the break, Mumbai continued to attack. As Chhetri came to the field as a substitute, Bengaluru’s moves became sharper. And with the addition of Roy Krishna and Javier Fernandez, the game flowed. Chhetri hit the net with a header from Roshan Narom’s corner kick. Mumbai tried to fight back but Bengaluru’s defense did not budge. Read on deshabhimani.com
