When Bengaluru FC last met NorthEast United FC, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu kissed the ground longer than usual after the game. Sandhu’s coach Carles Cuadrat congratulated him with a little more gusto than usual, while Sunil Chhetri embraced him like a friend who always had his back. They all knew, without Sandhu, on that chilly night in Bengaluru, they would have received a thumping.
However, Cuadrat wants his team to forget all these details before Thursday’s semifinal in Guwahati. He is looking at the bigger picture.
“NorthEast have their weapons and so do we,” he said. “Everyone tells me we had some problems against them, but they got one point against us and we got four.” Even so, Cuadrat knows that if there is one team that can counter BFC blow for blow, it is NorthEast.
NorthEast have attempted 718 (the second-best behind FC Goa) more passes than BFC this season. In Federico Gallego (1049) and Rowllin Borges (968) – two of their best players this season – they have the sixth and seventh best passers in the league, comfortably ahead of BFC’s Dimas Delgado (875) and Eric Paartalu (785). NorthEast are comfortable with the ball, and it’s that comfort that could give them an edge going into the first leg.
This was most evident during the 17th minute of the league game at the Kanteerava Stadium. Moments after BFC took the lead, NorthEast played a hopeful long ball that was easily intercepted by the defence, prompting a furious reaction from head coach Eelco Schattorie. According to him, every pass had to be played at the exact right moment. But because of the tightness with which Paartalu, Delgado and Harmanjyot Khabra operated, NorthEast were forced to improvise and go long. It worked, for the most part.
Crosses from wide yielded NorthEast’s two best chances in the first half, and they dominated even the second with a similar approach. Striker Bartholomew Ogbeche in particular was a handful for the BFC defence to handle, chasing down long balls and forcing saves from set-pieces. However, for all of NorthEast’s enterprising play, they were dealt a sucker-punch when Chencho Gyeltshen scored the winner with BFC’s only real chance in the second half. It was the second time Chencho had haunted NorthEast following his last-minute equaliser earlier in Guwahati, and reminded Schattorie what his team was missing – a clinical finisher.
“They got away here (in Guwahati) in the last minute of extra time. In their home, we should have won,” Schattorie said. NorthEast have the most clean sheets, but are only the seventh best scorers in the league. Eight draws – the second highest in the league — meant they could only finish fourth. They haven’t quite played the way Schattorie would have liked them do, but after the 5-1 thumping at the hands of FC Goa back in December, they will be more than happy to face BFC in the playoffs — their first ever meeting at this stage of the league.
With three loses in the last four games, BFC themselves aren’t going into the game in the best of forms. They are also missing Paartalu to injury, while NorthEast’s nemesis Chencho is busy leading the line at NEROCA FC.
NorthEast, though, have their own problems.
“I think the last 10-12 games, I’m trying to fit a puzzle and I’m frustrated,” Schattorie said. “We have only 16 players, we got another red card in the last game (central defender Gurwinder Singh) and we have some other issues. I wish I had a little more choice going into this game.”
NorthEast have not beaten BFC in their last four ISL games, but in the current circumstances, and a passionate Schattorie leading them, they could break that jinx on Friday.