Bengaluru secures a berth in their second Indian Super Cup final after defeating Jamshedpur 2-0

Sunil Chettri’s Bengaluru sunk Jamshedpur‘s hopes of reaching the Super Cup final for the first time by scoring two goals in the second half. After securing only a single win in the group stage, the Blues didn’t seem like the strongest side, but they proved to be enough for the Men of Steel. 

Jayesh Rane’s header on Sivasakthi’s deflected pass first broke the deadlock in the second half. Consequently, the Blues’ skipper, Sunil Chettri sealed the win for his side by leaving Rehneesh TP bamboozled with his strike.

Simon Grayson chose two foreign midfielders, Bruno Ramires and Javi Hernandez, and an overseas attacker, Roy Krishna to be a part of his playing XI. On the other side, Aidy Boothroyd went with full strength and named four overseas players in the starting line-up – Jay Emmanuel Thomas, Eli Sabia, Rafael Crivellaro, and Daniel Chima Chukwu. 

The match got underway with Bengaluru having possession. However, they were quickly dispossessed by Jamshedpur as Jay Emmanuel Thomas tested Gurpreet Singh Sandhu in just the 3rd minute with a decent shot towards the goal which was saved by the goalkeeper but a rebound was also taken by Chima Chukwu which fell equal to the netminder rightfully. 

After a couple of lethal attacks from Jamshedpur, Bengaluru finally managed to grasp the rhyme of the game and in the 9th minute they created an offense on the counter. However, it wasn’t for long as Thomas entered the Blues’ box intending to break the deadlock, but his shot got deflected by a player which eventually found his teammate, Boris Singh, who instantly poked the ball toward the net, but it was saved as Gurpreet Singh was alert standing between the sticks in the 16th minute. 

The Blues tried to slow down the play after a couple of onerous goal-scoring attempts from the Red Miners. Consequently, in the 23rd minute, they came back in the game with a decent cross from Udanta Singh that found Chettri in the middle, but Sabia stood as a wall and successfully managed to defend the attempt. 

In the 31st minute, Bengaluru’s star midfielder, Hernandez suffered an injury and Jayesh Rane replaced him. In the 37th minute, Boris Singh played a deft pass to Rafael, who managed to break out into the keeper’s box earlier. The Brazilian took a quick shot with the hopes of getting on the scoresheet but the strike eventually went wide of the goal.

As the half-time whistle blew, Jamshedpur looked confident following the opportunities they made in the initial 45 minutes of the match. On the other side, Gurpreet was on a test for almost the whole first half. The Blues were surely required to have a word at half-time. 

The first half was utterly dominated by Jamshedpur

The first major event in the second half was Sandesh Jhingan getting booked in the 53rd minute after the defender took down Jamshedpur’s winger Boris Singh while he was trying to find a way through into Bengaluru’s box.

The attacking efforts from the Men of Steel didn’t seem like stopping as the combined efforts of Chima, Ritwik, and Boris were constantly getting on the nerves of the Blues’ defenders. In the 57th minute, Rohit and Udanta were substituted by Sivasakthi and Pablo Perez as they were chasing the first goal of the evening. 

The changes turned out to be positive as Sivasakthi’s pass inside the box got deflected and it found Jayesh Rane in front of the goal who smashed the ball into the net with his head in the 67th minute.

After breaking the deadlock and putting a step further in the race to the final, Krishna managed to break out in Jamshedpur’s box with only the goalkeeper to beat. However, TP Rehenesh stood strong in front of the Fujian to keep his side alive in the battle.

The Red Miners were desperately looking for a goal in order to equalize the match but before they could get on the scoresheet, Sunil Chettri smashed the ball in the net after TP Rehneesh left it loose following an effort from Krishna in the 83rd minute. 

The Blues weren’t holding back and were making regular attacks to breach Jamshedpur’s defense and make the scoreline 3-0. However, TP Rehneesh was giving his best by saving the shots as much as he could.

Jamshedpur tried making a few attempts in the injury time to score but it was too late. Hence, with two strikes in the second half by Sunil Chettri and Jayesh Rane, the Blues secured a spot in the final of the 2023 Super Cup.