Ratings: Bengaluru FC defeat Mumbai City on penalties to reach the finale

The victory came after a gruelling 120 minutes of football, that was followed by an exciting penalty shootout

Bengaluru FC have advanced to the finals of the Indian Super League after a victory against Mumbai City, in what was definitely an all-time ISL classic, that had all the drama and excitement one would want in a game of football.

The game began with Bengaluru FC scoring, and making the score 2-0 on aggregate, but a hard-fought goal by Mumbai City gave them the belief and conviction that they needed for a comeback, and they did just that, courtesy of a second half header from Mehtab Singh.

What followed was a long and tiring game, that eventually led to extra-time and then penalties, where we saw both teams score 8 out of 8 penalties, before Mehtab's shot was handsomely saved by Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, and Sandesh Jhingan finished the job by putting the ball inside the goal.

Here are the ratings from the game.

Bengaluru FC Ratings (By Sathvik K Bharadwaj)

Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (GK) - 9

Gave away a penalty with a needless challenge on Jorge Pereyra Diaz, but made amends with a spectacular save. Pulled off a great save in the second half. Six saves, four punches and four catches on the night. Saved Mehtab Singh's spot-kick in the shootout.

Prabir Das - 7

Barring a slight blip for the goal, positioned himself well to deal with deep crosses and hung balls. Made two successful interceptions. Converted his penalty in the shootout.

Aleksandar Jovanovic - 7

Had another solid outing in defence for the Blues, making three clearances, one successful interception and two successful tackles. Came off for Alan Costa.

https://youtu.be/QlC3x35pyiM

Sandesh Jhingan - 9

Put his body and head in the way of opposing danger. Made 11 clearances and blocked four shots in another commanding display from the heart of defence. Scored the winning penalty in the tie-breaker.

Bruno Ramires - 7

Was excellent in sniffing out danger and getting a leg in to break attacks down the right. Lost out to Mehtab for Mumbai’s second. Read the game well overall as he made three successful interceptions. Was replaced by Pablo Perez.

Naorem Roshan Singh - 7.5

Effective in possession and cut out crosses early. Had a back-and-forth battle with Rahul Bheke and was used as an effective attacking outlet, but received no support.

Rohit Kumar - 7

Played deeper to win second balls and provide flick-ons to the front three. Picked up a yellow for a late sliding challenge on Greg Stewart. Tidy in possession with 87% passing accuracy. Always made some space for himself to collect the ball.

Javi Hernandez - 8

Scored the opening goal with a brave header. A couple of his shots were saved by Phurba Lachenpa’s quick reflexes. Took his penalty successfully in the shootout.

Suresh Singh Wangjam - 7.5

Man-marked Stewart once again. Through balls for the forward runners were accurate late in the second half.

Roy Krishna - 7.5

Shielded the ball with great physicality and tracked back to form an extra layer of defence. His header was pushed onto the woodwork by Lachenpa. The Bengaluru FC forward battled hard for every ball that came his way.

Sivasakthi Narayanan - 8

Started brightly, with some clever touches and good ball control. Supplied the assist for the first goal with a perfect cross to Javi. Link-up play on the counter was excellent. Came off for Sunil Chhetri. 

Substitutes

Sunil Chhetri - 7

Was firm in his tackling and stretched the Mumbai back-line. Calmly slotted his penalty home.

Pablo Perez - 8

Made an instant difference down the left, brought with him some composure in passing and supplied some dangerous crosses.

Alan Costa - N/A

Made some vital clearances and scored his penalty in the shootout.

Mumbai City (By Keshava Verma)

Phurba Lachempa - 8.5

Lachenpa put on arguably the best goalkeeping performance this entire season, and made tons of crucial and difficult saves to help his team survive the length of the game against Bengaluru FC.

Rahul Bheke - 7

Rahul had a bit of a cagey affair tonight. The right-back was a bit off the mark with his defending, but did well whenever presented with an attacking opportunity. He also scored a goal in the penalty shootout for his team.

Mourtada Fall - 7

The giant at the back for the Islanders was average with his defending tonight, and left huge spaces for Bengaluru FC’s attack, as a result of which they were exploited on several occasions. Fall’s poor marking inside the box also led to Bengaluru FC’s goal. His goal in the shootout was however, of true importance.

Mehtab Singh - 7

The defender scored the all important equaliser for his team, and showed good resilience and solidarity in the backline as well. But all this faded away quickly, as Mehtab missed his penalty, and handed his team the loss in the shootout.

Vignesh Dakshinamurthy - 7

Vignesh put on a decent shift tonight, and did well in keeping the left side of the pitch under his control, both offensively as well as defensively.

Rowlin Borges - 6.5

Borges presented himself available at the right moments of the game, and was of true help in Mumbai’s first goal. But other than that, the midfielder didn’t make much of an impact to deem his performance as a good one.

Ahmed Jahouh - 6.5

Jahouh put on a disappointing shift tonight as he was very lousy with his defensive contributions. The Moroccan put his team in great defensive trouble on a couple of occasions, and wasn’t as impactful as usual. Jahouh was still precise when called up to take the spot-kick in the shootout.

Greg Stewart - 7.5

Despite missing the penalty in the budding stages of the game, the Scotsman redeemed himself by scoring in the penalty shootout. He finished the game with an assist to his name, while playing six key passes and delivering three accurate crosses into the box.

Lallianzuala Chhangte - 7

Chhangte did facilitate Mumbai’s attack on a number of occasions, but wasn’t as impressive as he had been all season long. The player played zero accurate crosses into the Bengaluru FC box, and had only one shot on target. A goal in the penalty shootout was however, a big contribution on his behalf.

Jorge Pereyra Diaz - 6.5

Diaz won a penalty for his team in the opening minutes of the game, but lacked quality in his finishing all night long as he missed some big chances. The Argentine nonetheless showed great composure to score in the shootout.

Bipin Singh - 8

Bipin had three shots on target, and also scored the equaliser for Mumbai City. The 28-year-old was a major threat throughout the game from the left wing, and deserves all the plaudits, as he put on a superb performance. He was substituted after an injury.

Substitutes

Vikram Pratap Singh - 7.5

After being brought on, Vikram did brilliantly as he played some dangerous balls into the box that needed the slightest bit of quality, in order to reach the back of the net. Vikram’s composure also helped him score in a fascinating penalty shootout.

Mandar Rao Desai - N/A

Vinit Rai - 7

After coming on at the onset of extra-time, Vinit did well in the middle of the park, and provided the much needed stability to his team’s backline. The substitute also scored in the shootout.