Amrinder Singh and Eugeneson Lygndoh were the heroes for Bengaluru FC as they played out a 1-1 draw away to defending champions Johor Darul Ta'zim in the first leg of the AFC Cup semi-finals in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.
Amrinder was beaten only once in the match, by Argentine striker Jorge Pereyra Diaz in the 52nd minute, while Lyngdoh scored the equaliser in the 56th.
Bengaluru coach Alberto Roca made only one change from the team that had beat Tampines Rovers 1-0 over two legs in the quarterfinals, with left-back Nishu Kumar replaced by Salam Ranjan Singh. Ranjan swapped positions with regular right-back Rino Anto in the tactical formation on the night, though.
Bengaluru began with attacking intent in the early exchanges, and centre-back John Johnson tried a delicate chip off a Lyngdoh corner in the fifth minute that went just high over the crossbar. From the resultant goal kick, possession fell to Bengaluru, and Alvaro Rubio played Sunil Chhetri through. The Bengaluru captain's chip beat goalkeeper Izham Tarmizi but was cleared off the goal by Marcos Antonio.
It took until the 22nd minute for Johor to find their rhythm, as winger Azamuddin Akil whipped a cross in from the right, and Ranjan's clearance landed at the feet of Diaz, who shot over. Five minutes later, Diaz's compatriot Martin Lucero found himself at the end of a precise cross from the left by Azniee Taib, but Amrinder effected a save from Lucero's powerful header low down to his right.
Two minutes later, the hosts had another couple of glances at Amrinder's goal, first when Aidil Zafuan tried to head in from Azamuddin's cross, and a minute later Cameron Watson blocked a snapshot from Diaz. In the 37th minute, Azniee beat the offiside trap when put through by Johor captain Safiq Rahim, and he did well to turn inside John Johnson to create a scoring opportunity, but his right-footed effort went just wide of the post.
The last chance of the first half also went to Johor, as Lucero got in behind the defence after a run from Diaz, and saw his first shot blocked by Amrinder, and the follow-up attempt checked by Ranjan.
Johor had their first attempt of the second half in the 48th minute, as Singapore international Hariss Harun put the ball through for Diaz, but his shot went straight into Amrinder's gloves. Four minutes later, a Rahim corner was converted into the first goal of the match by Diaz, his sixth of the AFC Cup 2016.
Bengaluru showed more willingness to attack after conceding, and they were rewarded in the 56th minute when Lyngdoh found the Johor defenders backing away from him, and the India international took advantage to unleash a left-footed effort across the face of goal, placing it deep to the left of Izham.
In the 68th minute, a corner by Watson was relayed back to the Johor box by Chhetri, but this time Lyngdoh failed to keep his shot on target. Ten minutes later, Lyngdoh found a free ball floating inside the box and nearly sent a perfect chip over the goalkeeper.
By this time, Roca played his hand by bringing in reinforcements in midfield as his substitutions, while his opposite number Mario Gomez looked to bring on more attacking options.
With four minutes of regulation time left, Antonio would get a header from a corner, but failed to get it on target.
"After going 1-0 down, to come away with a draw is always difficult. Eugene had a chance to take the shot and he scored the goal," Roca said after the game. "The team has fought throughout the 90 minutes of the game, apart from when we scored the goal, which is why we have come away with this result.
"I am really proud of the players because it's not easy to teach a new philosophy, a new system, strategies or tactics. Their response has given me the confidence to work towards reaching the final. We have a few weeks to prepare well for the second leg and as I said, it will definitely be harder than the first leg."
The return leg is scheduled for Wednesday, October 19 in Bengaluru. Johor will be missing both Lucero and Diaz for the second leg after the strike pair picked up their second bookings in the knockout stages.