Drama, drama and more drama is what we would say to describe what went down on the very final matchday of the eISL season 2. If the first leg proved domination from the teams that made it to the final, the second leg showed the fighting spirit and the never give up rizz of the other two sides. To put things into perspective, Bengaluru Fc came into the second leg with a 2-1 advantage, while NorthEast United had swept all three games in the first leg. This is how things went down on the final day!
FC Goa vs Bengaluru FC: A game that would make any theatrical drama jealous!
Heading into the second leg with a game’s advantage, The Bengaluru boys converted that into a winning margin by taking two more games in the second leg, albeit with mouth-watering drama. The opening game of the second leg ended 1-1 after extra time as well and Vanshaj came out on top against CJ on penalties, helping them level it 2-2 in the tie. There was another twist in the tale with the Blues thumping the eGaurs by a margin of 5 to 1, taking the lead in the tie once again. With the final game to decide who takes the first spot in the ultimate game, Aadizema took on Sagnik, where the latter first opened the scoring. Aadizema came back strongly with the equalizer but Sagnik stole the show with a late winner to make it 4-2 on aggregate and lead Bengaluru into the finals and fight for the crown of champions.
NorthEast United vs Kerala Blasters FC: Blasters tried their best but too good NorthEast take it all.
We thought the tie was all but sealed in the Highlanders’ favor but Shubum had other ideas in his mind. Opening the bout against Emaad, the game ended 2-2 at the end of 90 with both teams fighting it out toe to toe. It was once again penalties that had to decide the winner in the opening game and rightly so, Shubum came out victorious to pull one back in the tie and reduce the deficit to two. Heading into the second game with full hopes to pull another win back, it all went to dust as the Highlanders put forward their might and took the fourth game in the tie, setting up a thumping final clash against Bengaluru FC. The Highlanders opened the scoring in the co-op but Shubum and Lokmanyu came back with the equalizer. With just 15 minutes to go, the NorthEast boys sealed the win with their second and winner of the game. The Highlanders took the tie 4-1 and jumped into the final showdown.
The Final Showdown: The Highlanders comeback to seal the deal, but not without full-on drama!
ALL BOW DOWN TO THE HIGHLANDERS. The Grand Finale started off with CJ taking on Saransh to see who gets the advantage in the tie. CJ, just like how he’s dominated in the playoffs, brought his scoring boot on, scoring two in the first half. Saransh returned with one but CJ buried the game by banging in two more and locking the advantage early on in favor of the Blues. A nerve cracking co-op game followed that saw a test of character for both sides. The first 90 minutes saw end to end football on full display as both the teams created plenty of chances but were not able to convert any. The game went into extra time and still a winner couldn’t be decided and so began the penalty shoot out. With both teams converting their opening five penalties, the game went into sudden death but we were still unable to find the winner until the eighth one, which the NorthEast boys scored and The Blues missed, thereby drawing square in the tie and leaving the final game to decide who takes home the coveted trophy. Emaad took on Sagnik in the very last game of this eISL campaign to determine which of the two sides would get away with the trophy. Emmad turned the tides in the Highlanders’ favor, banging home the opening goal of the final game. With five minutes gone after the break, Sagnik put on his goal scoring boots, coming up with the equalizer for the Blues. Just seven minutes later, Emaad put the pressure back on Sagnik, turning in his second of the night and en route to taking the game. Sagnik once again showed his never give up spirit, converting a goal and making it 2-2 on the night in the 68th minute. The game took another turn with Emaad scoring a blistering goal to get the lead back in the game, which stayed on until the end and the Highlanders were crowned Champions of the 2nd season of the eISL.
That’s it folks! The eISL season 2 is all done and dusted. We will be back soon with another season, more goals and drama. But, until then, follow us on IG and catch all the action on our official YT channel.
