Kolkata : Reigning Indian Super League (ISL) champions Hyderabad FC (HFC) is ready to go up against former champions Bengaluru FC (BFC) in the second semi-final of the 131st Durand Cup.
There is barely any to choose between the two teams keeping in mind of their performance in this Durand Cup edition. Both teams have also scored an identical 11-goals in the five games so far with Hyderabad FC conceiving three, while Bengaluru FC had five. Hyderabad FC is slightly edge up with the seven scorers they have, Bart Ogbeche leading the lines with five strikes. Bengaluru FC have majorly relied on their striking trio of talisman Sunil Chhetri (3), Roy Krishna (3) and the pair’s understudy Siva Sakthi (4) for the numbers on score sheet.
Manolo Marquez, the HFC coach was forthcoming in the pre-match press conference saying, “I think if we have to tell something about them then that is that they signed better players in attack this year. They also have very good players from their academy. I think they’re a very strong team physically. If you remember both games of last season we were very similar. We played better than them in the first half with our style and they played better than us in the second half with their style. We have to try to play with our style. For example, the other day it was very equal between Odisha & Bengaluru but these dangerous offensive players decided the score finally.”
Bengaluru coach Simon Grayson also spoke about the familiarity between the two sides saying, “It’s going to be a tough game. We have to defend well and we have to score. HFC is a good side. But we are ready. I think most of our players know the weakness and strong points of HFC. So we know what we have to do and we respect the opposition. Tomorrow we want to score more goals than HFC. Play balanced football and try to win the game.”
Catch the semi-final
– Live Telecast: Sports18 1 SD & HD, and Sports18 Khel
-Live Stream: VOOT
-Kick-off: Hyderabad FC v Bengaluru FC @ 6.00 pm (Sep 15, 2022)
