Confident Bengaluru take on Mohun Bagan

A confident Bengaluru FC will be looking to score their second win as they face Mohun Bagan in a Group B league match of the Hero Federation Cup football here on Tuesday.

Bengaluru FC put in the hard yards in yesterday’s opener against Salgaocar when they came out 3-2 winners courtesy Sunil Chhetri’s double strikes and a Sean Rooney goal.

Bengaluru FC share a sort of history with Bagan as the Kolkata side were their opponents in the Blues’ first-ever competitive game. The result then was a 1-1 draw at the Bangalore Football Stadium in the I-League last season.

The last time the two sides met was in the league’s return leg where a thunderbolt from Rooney saw Bengaluru manage a 1-2 result at the Salt Lake Stadium. Incidentally, Rooney had a goal in the draw at home too and would only be keen to make it three in as many games against the Kolkata club.

“I hadn’t realised I’ve scored both times we’ve played Bagan and I would love to do it again. They are a good team but at the moment, there’s no team with confidence like ours,” said the Australian striker.

Bagan have done a fair bit of a rejig to their squad over the summer, shoring the attack with the signings of Cameroon international Pierre Boya, Haitian Sony Norde, Balwant Singh and Jeje Lalpekhlua.

The Mariners have even roped in defenders Bello Razaq, Anwar Ali and Dhanchandra Singh apart from bringing in young midfielder Souvik Chakraborty from United SC.

Asked what he thought about Sunday’s game, Rooney said, “It was an exciting first half and a compact show by the defence in the second. We dominated the game and came away with a win we deserved. About playing a second game in three days, I don’t see it as too much of a problem. We’ve done all the right things at our recovery sessions and we will be as fresh as ever.”