A brace from Australian Tolgay Ozbey helped Dempo SC beat Salgaocar SC 2-0 and enter the final of the Hero Federation Cup here on Friday. In the other semifinal, I-League champion Bengaluru FC cruised past Sporting Clube de Goa 3-0.
Ozbey troubled the defence with his pace and got into dangerous positions around the goalmouth. He gave Dempo the lead in the 12th minute, the ball deflecting off his back and into the net, leaving ’keeper Subrata Paul frozen on his goal line.
Douhou almost gave Salgaocar the equaliser, slipping in between the defender and goalkeeper as the ball flew diagonally across.
Subrata brought down Ozbey in a one-on-one situation in the 58th minute, with the Australian driving the resultant penalty to the left post. Subrata denied Jewel Raja and Holicharan Nazary, but the efforts were not enough to force a turnaround.
Bengaluru faced more resistance from a spirited Sporting Clube de Goa, surviving some anxious moments before a lucky Sean Rooney goal, followed by a stunner from Sunil Chhetri propelled it into its first final on its second attempt. Eugenson Lyngdoh scored the third to seal the rout.
Sporting goalkeeper Ravi Kumar did his bit under the bar as the home side came under pressure from the fast-moving Bengaluru attack. He dealt with attempts from Rooney and Chhetri, a snap header by the latter off an Anto cross resulting in the custodian diving to his right for a block near the right post.
The Bengaluru midfield and defence were forced to backtrack as Sporting surged towards the goal, carrying the ball with ease over the centre line and linking up effortlessly. Skipper Wolfe swung into action, hitting a pass from Cajetan goalwards; the ball eluded defender Raite before Lyngdoh cleared on the line.
Ravi reacted late when Rooney held off a defensive challenge and slipped in a pass to Lyngdoh. However, the man under the bar did not have time to react when Chhetri fired a left-footer on the run. Rooney had supplied a critical pass to his captain.
Overall, it was a polished show from the men in blue from Bengaluru.
The results: Semifinals: Dempo SC 2 (Tolgay Ozbey 12, 58) bt Salgaocar SC 0; Bengaluru FC 3 (Sean Rooney 28, Sunil Chhetri 38, Eugenson Lyngdoh 87) bt Sporting Clube de Goa 0.
