BENGALURU: A hat-trick, a goal from near the half-line and a dominating display — football fans cannot ask for much more. On Tuesday, only 1,500 people were on hand to witness all this.
Antonio Dovale scored a hat-trick and Erik Paartalu netted from a 40-yard effort as Bengaluru FC drubbed Maldivian outfit TC Sports Club 5-0 in the second leg of the AFC Cup play-off tie at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium here on Tuesday. The 8-2 win on aggregate earned Bengaluru a place in the AFC Cup’s Group E alongside Aizawl FC, Dhaka Abahani and New Radiant SC.
After a less than impressive performance in Male last week, Bengaluru somehow managed to hold an edge over TCSC coming into the second leg. Going by the 3-2 scoreline in the first leg, a competitive second leg was expected. But on Tuesday, it turned out to be a practice match for the Blues as they dominated the visitors in almost all the aspects of the game.
There was no nervy start like what happened in the first leg. A determined Bengaluru went about their business with an attacking start. To nullify Bengaluru’s away goal advantage, what TCSC needed was a goal in the first half, while one for the home side would have made their task even more difficult. Both managers must have had the same thought when the match started. But 12 minutes into the game, Spaniard Antonio Dovale scored a stunner to dent the visitors’ hopes. Udanta won the ball in the middle and passed it to Dovale, who slotted it from 25 yards.
However, the goal was just the trailer for better things to come. With a 1-0 lead, Bengaluru continued to press hard and Dovale was on fire. After missing the target from close range following a Nishu Kumar cross, the Spaniard went about his business. This time, following a Subhashish Bose throw, Paartalu headed it to Dovale who smashed it into the back of the net.
While Dovale was dominating the game, Paartalu wasn’t too far behind. A minute after the former’s strike, the Australian had the crowd in gasps, scoring from almost the half-line. Paartalu found a loose ball in the midfield and while he had plenty of options to pass to, he chose otherwise. His volley ended up at the back of the net. “I don’t know if I can ever score such a goal. It was one of the millions that went in,” Paartalu said after the game.
The second-half was no different. Dovale added another to complete his first hat-trick at the club in the 48th minute (Bengaluru’s second after CK Vineeth against Mumbai FC last year). Rahul Bheke completed the drubbing in the 90th minute after TCSC went a man down following Alaaeldin Elmagraby’s red card in the 61st minute.
Bengaluru coach Albert Roca, who had expected a tough fight, was happy with the way the match turned out. “Every professional team must stay focused on the match in hand. The way TCSC played in the last game I expected a tough fight here too. But I am happy that we could manage such a huge margin,” Roca said.
krishnendu@newindianexpress.com