Away side Bengaluru FC suffered a 0-1 defeat against hosts Istikol in the first leg of the AFC Cup inter-zone final at the Hisor Central Stadium here on Wednesday.
For Istikol, Dmitrii Barkov scored the lone goal of the match in the 26th minute through a header after a cross from skipper Fathullo Fathuloev finding his target man in the unmarked area.
The goal became the first one conceded by Bengaluru FC after four matches in AFC Cup.
Bengaluru FC started the first-half on the front foot, threatening the hosts. Nishu Kumar was left wide open to select his target man for the cross but the ball only ended into the gloves of the Tajikistan side goalkeeper.
Nishu occasionally looked to combine well with Sunil Chhetri allowing the skipper take an effort from 22-yard, which partially missed ending up in the bottom corner.
The final minutes of the first-half belonged to the away side who maintained possession without causing any threat, trailing 0-1.
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Istikol initially enjoyed good share of possession with the ball trying to score through too many long range efforts without causing any threat to the Bengaluru FC goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu.
The home side gained momentum from the opening goal forcing the opponents to concede corners at regular intervals. Romish Dzhalilov dribbled the ball past the opposition in the dying minutes of the first-half asking questions to the Bengaluru defenders Rahul Bheke and Collin Abranches.
The second-half looked nothing different from the first with poor man marking from Bengaluru FC allowing the Istikol defenders control the midfield and the pace of the match.
The home team skipper Fathullo had the best chance of the second half from a free kick given away by Nishu but was saved by Sandhu who dived at full stretch.
The second leg of the final will be played at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on October 18.
--IANS
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