Durand Cup: Indian Air Force hold defending champs Bengaluru FC to 1-1 draw

Defending champions Bengaluru FC failed to break the Indian Air Force FT's defence to settle for a 1-1 draw in their Durand Cup opener here on Monday.

Vivek Kumar (21st) put the Air Men ahead in the first half after a defensive error, only for BFC's Salam Johnson Singh to draw level in the 59th minute.

The Bibiano Fernandes-coached side, who are playing a youth team, made all the substitutions to bolster their attack but failed to get the winning goal and settled for a point.

An evenly matched contest here at the Kishore Bharati Krirangan, Kolkata between Bengaluru FC & Indian Air Force FT.#IndianOilDurandCup #132ndEditionofDurandCup #DurandCupPoweredByCoalIndiaLtd #IndianFootball #IndianFootballForwardTogether #ManyChampionsOneLegacy #BFCIAFFT pic.twitter.com/fUm3Tu925n

— Durand Cup (@thedurandcup) August 14, 2023

Robin Yadav had the best chance of clinching it for the champions, when he followed an Edmund free-kick beautifully at the far post, but his header from hand-shaking distance found Air Force keeper Dinesh's glove, struck the left upright and went out for a corner.

Playing in a 4-4-3 formation, BFC had the lion's share of possession in the game.

They also had 14 shots at goal to their opponent's six, with six of those shots on target, but despite seven minutes added on in the end, the deadlock could not be broken.

This was BFC's first game in Group C, while the IAFFT will have one more to go, after having lost the first to Gokulam Kerala, who currently top the group with two wins out of two.

IAFFT scored the goal out of nowhere when Shrivas' effort to control the ball saw the centre-back lose his footing, allowing Vivek to slot home past an out-of-position Sahil Poonia.

After the change of ends, substitute Monirul Molla received the ball in the box and turned his marker, before feeding it for Johnson, who made no mistake in smashing home past Dinesh from a tight angle to draw the Blue Colts level.