Bengaluru FC 2-0 Jamshedpur FC: 3 things we learned as Blues make it to Hero Super Cup 2023 final

Bengaluru FC booked their berth in the Hero Super Cup 2023 final with a 2-0 semifinal win over Jamshedpur FC at the EMS Stadium in Kozhikode on Friday (April 21).

The Blues were under the kosh in the opening 25 minutes, with the Red Miners pushing all the right buttons in attack. However, Aidy Boothroyd's men couldn't take their chances as the teams went into the break level.

After an attritional 22 minutes in the second half, Bengaluru took the lead through Jayesh Rane's perfectly-placed header from a deflected cross. With Jamshedpur committing men forward, Simon Grayson's side sealed victory in the 84th minute as Sunil Chhetri scored from Roy Krishna's nod-down.

They now take on either Odisha FC or NorthEast United FC in the final on April 25. Here are three things we learned from a hard-fought battle between the two Indian Super League sides:

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#1 Jamshedpur FC fail to take their chances early on and their offence stagnated

Jamshedpur FC's start to the game was exactly what Boothroyd would have wanted. In the opening 25 minutes, the Red Miners consistently found space in midfield and created openings in the final third, getting five shots away.

The issue, though, was that they failed to open the scoring from those chances. Daniel Chukwu forced a good save from Gurpreet Singh Sandhu with a decent effort before Boris Singh missed the clearest chance of the game. With the entire goal gaping, the winger hit the ball towards Sandhu, who saved again.

Jamshedpur's attack took a hit after the first cooling break, with the team often depending on Rafael Crivellaro to pull something out from his bag of tricks. Bengaluru, though, constantly applied pressure on the former Chennaiyin FC man when he had the ball and limited his impact.

After getting two shots on target in the opening 25 minutes, the Red Miners recorded just one more over the remainder of the game. That came in the penultimate minute of second half stoppage time when Farukh Chaudhary forced an easy save from Sandhu.

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#2 Substitutes make difference for Bengaluru FC

Bengaluru FC were slow off the blocks against Jamshedpur FC and had Sandhu to thank for not going at least a goal behind in the opening half an hour. They still seemed to be getting into their groove when Javi Hernandez walked off the field in some discomfort in the 31st minute.

However, their bench strength, which was a feature during the ISL 2022-23 season as well, came to their rescue.

Jayesh Rane, who replaced Hernandez, broke the deadlock with a superb header into the bottom corner with TP Rehenesh rooted to the spot. The cross for the goal was supplied by another substitute, Sivasakthi Narayanan, who also played his part in the Blues' second goal.

Pablo Perez, who came on in the 59th minute, put in a brilliant cameo performance. His arrival helped Grayson's men dominate possession and carve out openings. He also did a decent marking job on Rafael Crivellaro when needed.

Perez also helped Bengaluru drive forward on the counter once Jamshedpur went chasing after a goal in yet another excellent display off the bench.

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#3 Bengaluru make 3rd final of season as Sunil Chhetri becomes top-scorer in Hero Super Cup history

Bengaluru's season began with a win in last year's Durand Cup, beating Mumbai City FC 2-1 in the final. They then overcame a massive drop-off in the first half of their ISL campaign to finish fourth in the standings and make the final. In the summit clash, though, they fell on penalties to ATK Mohun Bagan.

On Friday, the Blues made it into their third final of the 2022-23 season with a display that fans have become accustomed to this season. Simon Grayson's men took their time to get going, but once the first goal came, they were resolute defensively and hit Jamshedpur on the counter.

To add to the joy for the West Block Blues, Sunil Chhetri got on the scoresheet for the first time in the ongoing Hero Super Cup. The Indian captain's link-up play was superb for the whole game, and his volleyed finish into an empty net from Roy Krishna's set-up sealed the game.

With the goal, his eighth in eight appearances in the competition, Chhetri became the all-time top-scorer in the Super Cup. It doesn't exactly match up to some of his other achievements given the relative newness of the tournament. However, it's one he and Bengaluru will certainly take as they head to another final.