Bengaluru FC defeated Sudeva Delhi FC on 4-3 in penalties to emerge victorious in the final of the second season of the Reliance Foundation Developmental League (RFDL) in Navi Mumbai tonight. The Blues defended their title in style as they held their nerves in a tense shootout after a highly-motivated Sudeva unit put them behind twice in the regulation time. The game ended 2-2 at the end of 90 minutes and only the barest of margins separated these two incredibly promising teams in the summit clash of the RFDL.

Sudeva opened the scoring with Seilanthang Lotjem capitalizing on a cross from the right flank to round off a fine finish in the 17th minute. Lotjem helped his team build up that play from the midfield, running through the inner channel to comfortably receive the pass and convert the opportunity to net the first goal of the night.

Sudeva’s midfielder Daniel Gurung made a quick run to get at the end of a long ball from the backline and put it past the Bengaluru goalkeeper Sharon in the 48th minute.

The Blues yet again had to push hard to regain lost ground. They became more assertive with the ball at their feet, often attempting positive passes that could help them swing the game back in their favour. Their efforts bore fruit with substitute forward Satendra Singh Yadav coming off the bench to hit a powerful strike from the edge of the box to yet again level the scores and the eventually force the game into the penalty shooutout. Bengaluru’s skipper Sharon dived well on his right side to deny Sudeva’s forward Ramesh Chhetri the final spot-kick and led his boys to an emphatic win at the Reliance Corporate Park (RCP).