Bengaluru FC have come a long way from reeling in 9th position to finding their way into the Indian Super League finals after they defeated Mumbai City FC on penalties. The Blues started the second leg with a 1-0 lead from the first leg and again scored first through Javi Hernandez. But Mumbai City came back in the tie with two goals from Bipin SIngh and Mehtab Singh.
While they defeated the Blues on the night, the ,match went into extratime and then to penalties, where Simon Grayson’s men held their nerves as Gurpreet SIngh kept out Mehtab Singh’s spotkick and Sandesh Jhingan scored the winner to help Bengaluru FC reach the finals yet again.
Grayson was very proud of his players as lauded their commitment on the field. “We started well and then we conceded the penalty which could have rocked us, but we said that if anything goes against us we stay mentally strong. All the defenders defended well, midfield players worked extremely hard. Overall, I thought it was a really good game. Both teams were trying to win it and played some good football. The goalkeepers made some good saves. And then it came down to the penalty shootouts where somebody is going to be a hero and somebody is going to be a villain. Fortunately for us, it went our way,” Grayson said after the match.
The Englishman also reflected on the dramatic turnaround that the team ahead from the end of last year. He shared that it required a lot of mental strength as the entire staff came together and supported each other.
“We have come a long way for what we have achieved so far this season from where we took a lot of mental strength and togetherness and we have had that among everybody, not just the coaches and the staff. It’s a fantastic achievement and now we have to go to Goa and try and finish off the job,” Grayson reflected.
Grayson also spoke about the penalty save from Gurpreet Singh who stopped Greg Stewart from scorinhg from the spot and feels that it gave the other players motivation to fight harder.
“The penalty save gave us a lift. Gurpreet is a big frame but you expect Greg Stewart to score more often than not. But that save gave us an extra lift. We then scored a great goal through Javi Hernandez. I was disappointed with the two goals that we conceded but that’s just being critical as a coach,”he concluded.
Bengaluru FC will now have to wait as they will face the winner of ATK Mohun Bagan and Hyderabad FC in the finals in Goa. The Blues will be aiming to win the title for the second time.
