Ten-man Kings go down fighting
Bashundhara Kings bowed out from the group stages of the AFC Cup following a 1-1 draw in their last Group D fixture against ATK Mohun Bagan at the Maldives National Stadium yesterday.
The two-time Bangladesh Premier League champions, who needed a victory to advance to the Inter-zone semifinal playoffs, had taken a first-half lead through Jonathan Fernandes. However, a debatable red card to Shushanto Tripura on the stroke of half-time made their task doubly-difficult as they failed to find an answer to David Williams' 62nd-minute equaliser.
With five points from three matches, Kings finished second in the group behind Mohun Bagan, who sealed the lone knockout spot with seven points.
The result denied Kings the opportunity to become the second club from Bangladesh after Abahani to move into knockout rounds of the competition.
With the Bangladesh champions needing a victory, coach Oscar Bruzon made two changes to his starting eleven, bringing in Tripura and Atiqur Rahman Fahad in place of Biplu Ahmed and Mahbubur Rahman Sufil in a 4-1-4-1 formation.
The Kings started the match at a brisk pace, winning a couple of corners and going close in the first quarter of an hour, with Mohun Bagan's Irish defender Gerard McHugh making crucial blocks to keep the danger out. While Kings dictated possession, the Mariners looked more threatening with the incisive play, but Liston Colaco failed to hit the target following a brilliant dribble from Williams which had split the Kings defence in two and left goalkeeper Anisur Rahman Zico flatfooted.
Kings, though, grabbed the lead in the 28th minute when Fernandes struck the bottom-right corner of the net with a powerful shot following a few stepovers to create space inside the box.
Kings imposed their physicality on the game, conceding four yellow cards before Tripura was shown a straight red card by the referee following an aerial duel with Mohun Bagan's Shubhashis Bose on the stroke of half-time.
The decision, a harsh one considering Tripura wasn't cautioned earlier, turned the game on its head as the Mariners came out all guns blazing in the second half. It was a matter of time before the Indian side scored, which came in the 62nd minute, with Williams tapping home a cutback from Colaco inside the box.
Bruzon made four changes in the second half and while the changes brought some intensity to their game, the Kings failed to prize out the Mohun Bagan defence. The closest they came to a winner was on the 85th minute when Robson Robinho's intended cross for Raul Becerra evaded everyone and came off the far post.
Bruzon, in his post-match reaction, declined to comment on the red card incident, saying: "If I speak about the referee, I'm going to be hit with a ban of 35 games minimum....About the refereeing, it's something our clubs needs to do because it's not only today's game but also in the game against Bengaluru."
"We were very confident at half-time about keeping the result but unfortunately in one transition they capitalised," the Spaniard opined.
Source: www.thedailystar.net
