AFC Cup: Bengaluru FC vs TC Sports Club Maldives, Player Ratings
Bengaluru FC hosted TC Sports Club Maldives in return leg of the AFC Cup qualifiers. BFC came into the game with a 3-2 away win, which meant that the blues would go through even if they suffered a 1-0 loss at home.
The Match started with TC looking to apply pressure right from the word go but the blues took the lead through a Toni Dovale stunner in the 12th minute from where on it was all Bengaluru throughout the half, barring a few instances where TC Sports Club managed to mount a few attacks on the blues goal.
Toni Dovale managed to add another goal to his name, and Aussie, Eric Paartalu also managed to get his name on the scoresheet before the halftime. At halftime, the score read 3-0 in favor of Bengaluru.
The second half started with a bang as Toni Dovale completed his hattrick in the 47th minute to make it 4-0 in favor of Bengaluru. TC Sports were reduced to 10 men as their midfielder Alaaedldin was given the marching orders after seeing his second yellow of the game.
Rahul Bheke scored another for Bengaluru FC in the 90th minute to make it 5-0 for the Blues, and made sure that Bengaluru FC feature in the AFC Cup group stages. The final aggregate score real 8-2 in favor of Bengaluru FC.
We take a look at the player ratings from today's game
Bengaluru FC
Lalthuamawia Ralte (6/10): Ralte didn’t have much to do during the game as most of the action happened in the opposing half, but did seem to make a mistake once when he misjudged the flight of the ball while coming out of his line only to be saved by his defenders
Zohmingliana Ralte (7/10): Z. Ralte looked calm and composed while dealing with the TC Sports Club attackers. His positioning was good, and his understanding with Bheke and Subhasis Bose was also impressive today.
Rahul Bheke (8/10): Bheke was awesome today, he made some good clearances and tackles, and also looked to build up an attack from the back. He also scored the 5th goal of the night, to make it a 5-star performance for the blues.
Subhasis Bose (7/10): Subhasis did his attacking and defensive duties very well and looked to build a good partnership with Zohmingliana Ralte.
Nishu Kumar (7/10): Nishu Kumar again showed why he is so highly rated today. He made some good interceptions and runs and he also tracked back well and made sure he wasn’t beaten by the TC wingers.
Malsawmzuala (7/10): Zuala, as he is fondly known, had a good game, he went about his job in the middle of the park, without much fuss and made sure that the likes of Eric Paartalu and Toni Dovale had all the freedom to go forward. He won a lot of balls in the midfield and broke down a lot of TC attacks through his positioning and anticipation.
Toni Dovale (9/10): The Hattrick hero for Bengaluru, he looked to be a class above for the likes of TC Sports Club. His movement passing and finishing all were brilliant today and showed great awareness in positioning himself in the right place at the right time to score his second and third goal.
Udanta Singh (7/10): Udanta had a big role to play in the first and third goal that Bengaluru scored. Other than that he made some impressive runs down the flanks, and kept the TC Sports club defenders busy through out the time he was on the pitch.
Daniel (6/10): Daniel had an average game, to be honest, he was good at certain instances, and could have been better during some. He did make some good runs into the TC box and could have scored on a couple of occasions.
Eric Paartalu (8/10): Eric was a big presence in the middle of the park for Bengaluru, his presence seemed to have worked wonders for BFC in the midfield, as he won numerous 2nd balls and cut out a lot of TC attacks. His anticipation and presence during set pieces was also a big boost which was seen during the second and fifth goal that Bengaluru scored.
T. Haokip (6/10): Haokip was wasteful to be true. He had one header that hit the post and missed a golden opportunity in the start of the second half to score and increase the lead for BFC.