Once again, Sunil Chhetri inspired Bengaluru to victory as he scored the first hattrick in the Super Cup to book the Blues’ place in the final four of the competition where they’ll meet I-League side, Mohun Bagan. It wasn’t just that he scored a hat-trick, it was also that every goal was completely different to the one before it, in fact, it was what some call the ‘perfect’ hat-trick as he scored one with his head, one with his left and one with his right.
Another Episode Of The Sunil Show
In all honesty, it was nice to have a game that wasn’t overshadowed by the ineptness of the officials for a change after the disaster of the last couple of days. Let’s not dwell on what happened in those previous games, let’s focus on another episode of the Sunil Chhetri show.
It took all of thirteen minutes for Chhetri to break the deadlock, however, this goal was all about the fizz on the delivery from Udanta as Thapa in the Neroca goal could only parry it out.
Due to the sheer force of the cross, somehow, the ball ended up veering upwards and Chhetri was there to head home to make it 1-0. That man again, Chhetri, nearly doubled Bengaluru’s lead and to be fair he would’ve done had it not been for a fantastic reflex save from the aforementioned Thapa.
Gurpreet Dropped The Ball, Literally
Bengaluru dominated the first-half proceedings and were all set to take a one-goal lead into the interval until Gurpreet dropped an absolute clanger. A free-kick from around forty yards out was harmlessly floated in and it should have been a routine take for Bengaluru’s number one, yet, he fumbled the ball and there was Pritam to put it home. 1-1 at the break.
Even less time in the second-half was needed in comparison to the first for Chhetri to get another. Sunil latched onto a defence-splitting pass, nodded it on with his head before coolly finishing with his left behind Thapa. 2-1.
Perhaps, the most surprising thing of all was that it took Chhetri until second-half injury time for him to complete his hattrick. It was well worth the wait, mind.
Chhetri Made It A Perfect Hat-Trick With His Right
Bengaluru were patiently keeping the ball in Neroca’s half waiting for a gap to appear that they could take full advantage of. Chhetri did just that as he picked the ball up just inside the I-League runners-up penalty area as he took one touch to set and then another to bend it into the bottom right-hand corner. Pick that one out.
So, there you have it, we’re now down to the final four. Bengaluru have been my tip from the very beginning of the competition and I’m going to stand by that claim until I’m proven otherwise.
Until the next time.
