Defenders
DF: Juan Antonio Gonzalez (Bengaluru FC)
Another man who produced stern rearguard action this round was Bengaluru's Spanish centre-half Juanan. In the absence of regular partner John Johnson, suspended after his dismissal in the last match, the Spaniard partnered Salam Ranjan Singh at the back. And it was not an easy night for the Bengaluru defence as Shivajians pressured them relentlessly with attacks from all sides.
The pressure paid off for the Pune side as they scored two and if not for Juanan, they might have got more. Some last ditch tackles from the 29-year-old meant that the champions were still in the game, paving the way for their second half fightback.
The best of those blocks was to deny Holicharan Narzary in the first half with the score still 0-0, just as it looked like Shivajians were going to open the scoring.
DF: Ivan Bukenya (East Bengal)
The mountain of a man that is Bukenya was a towering presence for East Bengal as he swatted away whatever danger the Chennai City attack posed to his side, in the process helping them maintain a clean sheet. In a battle of brawn versus brawn, Bukenya found himself up against Chennai City's Brazilian striker Marcos 'Tank' Vinicius, quite the physical specimen himself.
Yet Bukenya imposed himself at the heart of East Bengal's defence making it difficult for Tank and his partner Charles De Souza to get any meaningful attacks going. With Chennai managing to restrict East Bengal to their own box, there was the chance that Chennai City could capitalise on a quick break and maybe even score a goal against the Kolkata giants, but Bukenya made sure that no such irregularities took place.
DF: Samuel Shadap (Shillong Lajong)
The local lad from Shillong was a major influence in their win against Churchill Brothers. Not only did he hold up his end at the back, preventing Churchill's speedy wingers from causing too much havoc, but also bombed forward with regularity to provide a threat of his own in the attacking third.
With some better ball control and execution in the final third, Shillong may have won more comfortably.
