AFC Cup: Bengaluru FC scrape past Abahani

BENGALURU: Albert Roca’s tried and tested experiment with the future talent of Bengaluru FC continued to bear results on Wednesday as Daniel Lalhlimpuia’s late winner helped the Blues eke out a 1-0 win over Abahani Limited Dhaka in their AFC Cup Group E opener at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium here.
In a game that was headed for a drab, goalless finish, Daniel broke through a stubborn Abahani defense in the 72nd minute to power in Daniel Segovia’s header to give Bengaluru a winning start in what is the club’s record fourth straight appearance in the elite Asian competition.
Coach Albert Roca gave starts to academy wards Asheer Akhtar and Robinson Singh in a relatively young starting XI, keeping with his philosophy of motivating his youth players by fielding them in elite tournaments.
All his key players were rested with Saturday’s Indian Super League final against Chennaiyin FC in mind, with the exception of Nishu Kumar - returning from an injury layoff - Subhasish Bose and the Spanish duo of Victor Perez and Segovia.
Abahani’s performance was far from impressive, given that the full-strength Bangladesh Premier League champions failed to break down Bengaluru’s second-string squad. They attacked briefly through Japanese midfielder Seiya Kojima and skipper Mamun Miah, but overall, their efforts left a lot to be desired.
Much of the action was contained in the midfield as both teams struggled hard to breach the attacking third in a scarcely-filled stadium.