PANJIM: Bengaluru FC entered the final of the inaugural Vedanta Youth Cup after overcoming a resilient Tata Football Academy by a 2-0 margin.
The third-round match, which was a nervy encounter, saw the team from Bengaluru prevail over the Jamshedpur based outfit to book a place in the final, making them the only unbeaten team in the tournament thus far in the process.
It was quite an intense first half of the game with a few reckless tackles coming in. Tata FA midfielder Rishi was the first to receive a yellow card on one such occasion while at the other end, Bengaluru goalkeeper Dipesh Chauhan was booked in the 26th minute.
With a minute remaining for the half time whistle, Bengaluru FC finally found a breakthrough as Ronik Singh gave his side the lead. In the meanwhile, joint-top scorer of the tournament Akashdeep Singh of Bengaluru was also shown a yellow card.
Nevertheless, the Blues doubled their lead through an in-form Jagdeep Singh as soon as the second half began, to put their opponents under pressure.
In the next quarter, Bengaluru looked to have established control and Ronik had a great chance to put an end to the game, but his scuffed shot was saved by Tata FA goalkeeper Sudarshan.
At the other end, Robin Yadav had a great game, coming very close to scoring on two occasions in the final 30 minutes. His outrageous attempt from the right edge of the box in the dying minutes could have earned Tata FA a consolatory goal but the ball bounced back off the post as Bengaluru’s second-choice goalkeeper Raj Biswa was rooted in his place.
