Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Bengaluru: Erik Paartalu insists JSW Bengaluru can be proud of their efforts after a 2-2 draw with Tajikistan’s FC Istiklol in the second leg of the 2017 AFC Cup Inter-Zone final on Wednesday saw the Indian side eliminated from the competition 3-2 on aggregate.
Bengaluru went into the game at Sree Kanteerava Stadium a goal down following a 1-0 defeat in Dushanbe three weeks ago, and Nuriddin Davronov’s fourth-minute penalty left The Blues with an uphill task to advance to a second successive final.
Defender Rahul Bheke levelled but Harmanjot Singh’s red card late in the first half gave the hosts an almost impossible job and Dmitri Barkov’s 56th-minute goal all but ended the tie, before Sunil Chhetri’s penalty gave Bengaluru a glimmer of hope.
“It was a pretty hard shift once we went down to 10 men but the boys fought for their lives,” said Paartalu.
“In normal circumstances, to lose a penalty and get a red card in the first half, a 2-2 draw is a pretty good result, but it wasn’t enough to get us through.
“We knew we had to give everything in this game. The effort was there, we ran our socks off and we can be proud of our efforts, but we didn’t give ourselves a real chance tonight.”
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