Bengaluru: Sunil Chhetri has admitted that JSW Bengaluru gave everything they had in the AFC Cup Inter-Zone semi-final second leg with Tajikistan’s FC Istiklol after the Indian side exited the tournament 3-2 on aggregate following a 2-2 draw on Wednesday.
The Blues were chasing the game from the off after a 1-0 reversal in the first leg in Dushanbe, but boasted a perfect record at Sree Kanteerava Stadium in the competition to date having won four from four.
And with a passionate and vocal home support, hopes were high prior to kick-off that the Karnataka state club could achieve the result needed to ensure a second successive appearance in the continental final.
“We tried our best, it was difficult but we had chances,” admitted Chhetri. “The game was quite open and we had to work really hard.
“There were some chances for them and some chances for us. We missed a few chances in the first half and if we had got them things might have worked out differently.
“But to be honest everyone tried their best and it’s one of those days when it didn’t happen.”
Istiklol silenced the home crowd almost immediately after Gurpreet Singh was adjudged to have upended Fatkhullo Fatkholoev inside five minutes, and Nuriddin Davronov’s ensuing penalty left Bengaluru needing to score three.
Albert Roca’s men came back strongly and equalised through Rahul Bheke but Harmanjot Singh was dismissed for a second bookable offence shortly before half-time to leave the hosts with a mountain to climb.
Having scored the decisive goal in the first leg, Russian Dmitri Barkov added another as the hour approached, before Chhetri’s penalty midway through the half gave the 2016 runners-up hope once more.
But it was not to be as Bengaluru were unable to score again to set up a frantic finish as the visitors held out to bring an end to Bengaluru’s hopes of lining up a repeat of the 2016 final with Iraq’s Air Force Club as Istiklol’s run was instead prolonged.
“[After going down to 10 men] it was difficult because we had to work twice as hard,” added the Bengaluru captian.
“We knew it was going to be difficult – a semi-final against a team like Istiklol, it’s not easy to play them.
“It was one of those games where we were just chasing anything.”
Photos: FC Istiklol & JSW Bengaluru
Source: the-afc.com