The seventh match of the I-League Qualifiers 2021 was the setting up of a blistering encounter between FC Bengaluru United and debutant Madan Maharaj FC, which ended 3-3 at the Bangalore Football Stadium. Madan Maharaj took a 2–0 lead through a brace from striker Shubham Bhowmick, before going 2–2 behind with goals from Sanju Pradhan and Arun Kumar. Both sides scored a goal each in extra time in the second half to end the match with a point each.
Bengaluru United began the encounter by making it clear that they would try to gain the upper hand by monopolizing the ball and would immediately push the ground upwards in case of loss of possession. As FCBU played with high intensity in the early exchanges, it remained to be seen whether the home side could play with such high energy during the entire 90 minutes.
Madhya Pradesh’s Madan Maharaj FC, on the other hand, spent its time and slowly progressed in the game. This approach fetched an early reward for MMFC, who broke the deadlock in the 12th minute through striker Shubham Bhowmick. Where veteran midfielder Mehtab Hossain played a long game searching for the ball over the top for Bhowmick, who was initially in an offside position. MMFC got a lucky break when FCBU full back Robin Gurung failed to read the position and attempted to bring the ball down. Gurung could not get the ball into his spell and his touch played the role of the opportunist Bhowmik, who made no mistake with the finish as he swung home a volley with his first touch, allowing goalkeeper Kunjang Bhutia to stop the brutal strike. Didn’t get any chance.
After the goal, powerhouse Shubham Bhowmik played like a confident man, as his impressive presence caused all kinds of problems to the FCBU defense. Bengaluru United suffered another blow at the half-hour mark when their talismanic striker Pedro Manzi was taken off the field after injuring his left hamstring as he tried to stretch to receive a pass. Manzi cut an emotional one as he left the field and could no longer play any part in helping his team get back on level terms. The extent of the injury remains to be seen in the coming days.
Without their star striker, Bengaluru United faced an uphill battle to get back in the game. Although the team enjoyed most of the possession in the first half, FCBU lacked some real momentum on the wings or center point in the attack which could have really upset Madan Maharaj FC’s well-established defence.
After the change, things went from bad to worse for Bengaluru United. Madan Maharaj took a breather after doubling the lead in the 52nd minute. It was Shubham Bhowmik again who added to the misery of FCBU. Amarendu Chakraborty played a length ball over the Bengaluru United backline, which should have met goalkeeper Kunjang Bhutia, who had the opportunity to come out of his line and remove the threat. Instead, Bhutia opted to stay in his field, which proved to be a costly mistake as Bhowmick easily reached the pass and calmly slipped the ball in front of Kunjang Bhutia.
FC Bengaluru United were just inches away from immediately narrowing the deficit when Slovenian forward Luka Mazsen found a yard in the box and took a shot away. His powerful effort broke the MMFC crossbar, keeping the scoreline at 2-0 in favor of MMFC.
FC Bengaluru United continued to put pressure on their quest to make a comeback in the match, and were finally rewarded in the 68th minute when veteran midfielder Sanju Pradhan displayed his individual brilliance to get his side back at touching distance. Pradhan first ousted his MMFC counterpart and then played a quick one-two with Ronaldo Oliveira and produced a pile driver of hits that caught substitute goalkeeper Abhishek Calvin in thin air.
The home team drew 2-2 in the 80th minute as Madan Maharaj failed to tackle a low cross in the box from the left. The ball was pin-balled after initial clearance and found its way to Arun Kumar, who delivered a skilful grounded finish to Abhishek Kelvin.
With ten minutes left to play and the score tied at 2-2, the play intensified in the final stages of the game. Nitish Hazra had a golden chance to restore Madan Maharaj FC’s lead in the 84th minute, but he failed to monitor the situation with the goalkeeper.
Madan Maharaj FC looked on the more impressive side in the final five minutes, and nearly landed a knockout punch in the 94th minute of the match after scoring through substitute forward Jiten Murmu. Abhishek Kelvin launched a regular long kick up into the ground, which was earlier misjudged by FCBU defender Anup Raj. After failing to make contact with the ball, Murmu had only the goalkeeper left to beat, and he did so by hitting a high volley on Kunjang Bhutia, who went out of his line at No Man’s Land .
The game looked like it was over, with just a few seconds of extra time left to play. Only a few seconds were left for FCBU to level once again. Substitute Jason Vaz was present inside the box as FCBU committed players and got the ball inside the box in a hurry. When the ball came to Jason, he kept his composure to swing the final kick of the match with his left foot and hit a volley home. As the ball bounced past the net, everyone inside the Bangalore Football Stadium seemed to be in frenzy as the game ended with one of the most frenetic endings one could hope for.
The result leaves Madan Maharaj FC with a draw from their first match, while FC Bengaluru United remain on two points from two matches after drawing both their games in Group A.
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