Captain Sunil Chhetri rose to the occasion with his 87th international goal as India won the Intercontinental Cup after beating Lebanon 2-0 in the final.
Mohun Bagan Super Giant (MBSG) defeated Kerala Blasters 2-1 to advance to the Super Cup semifinals.
Stimac is also grappling with injuries to few of his key players. Defensive midfielder Jeakson Singh, who underwent surgery on his left shoulder early last month, was named among the 50 probables but he is uncertain to be in the final 26.
By the middle of the first half, there were pacey crosses in either direction, with robust challenges also coming into the fray which would result in three yellow cards before the half-time whistle.
Blue Tigers rise to third spot.
A 56th-minute penalty strike from Sunil Chhetri was the difference between the two teams
Bengaluru FC snapped a seven-game winless run to record a 4-2 victory against Chennaiyin FC
India coach Igor Stimac wants his players to stay compact and not concede set pieces to Australia
An entertaining 11 minutes ensued with four goals, two at either end. First up, Brazilian target man Silva made most of Udanta Singh's build-up play, to leave NorthEast defenders high and dry with a fine goal.
India will face Pakistan in their opening outing at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Wednesday
Brought on in the 82nd minute, Chhetri received a perfect delivery from Anirudh Thapa but the India captain could not find the back of the net.
Getting four points from two outings is best start in the league for Hyderabad.
Two-time champions ATK rode on a David Williams brace to script a spectacular turnaround and storm into the final of the Indian Super League with a 3-2 aggregate win over holders Bengaluru FC, in Kolkata, on Sunday.
For Bengaluru, Cleiton Silva (27') and Juanan Gonzalez (57') scored and till the hour mark,
Phan Van Duc (10th), Nguyen Van Toan (49th) and Nguyen Van Quyet (70th) scored for Vietnam to no reply from the Indians whose defenders had a mediocre outing, especially in the second half.
Two-time champions ATK made their Christmas celebrations special, pipping Bengaluru FC by a David Williams solitary strike to secure their first ever win over the defending champions in the Indian Super League, in Kolkata, on Wednesday.
The result stretches BFC's winless run to six matches.
BFC's Augusto, Chhetri and Udanta combined in the final third but neither of the trio could apply the finishing touch.
ATK Mohun Bagan entered the semifinals of the Indian Super League with a win over Hyderabad FC in Kolkata on Saturday.
Two delectable strikes from magical Manvir Singh and an opportunistic header from substitute Sumeet Passi helped defending champions India breeze past Pakistan 3-1 to romp into the final of the SAFF Suzuki Cup.
The win ended BFC's five-match winless run as they jumped from 10th to eighth position, three points behind Chennaiyin FC.
ATK MB's first real opportunity of the game came midway through the first half when Boumous broke free on a counter-attack, shrugged off a challenge from Wangjam and managed to get a shot on target. Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, however, got a strong hand to the strike and parried away.
With seven points from eight matches, India finished third in Group E behind toppers Qatar and Oman, and ahead of Afghanistan (4th in group with six points from eight matches).
The Blue Tigers raced to a 1-0 lead with the 21-year-old centreback Anwar scoring his maiden international goal four years after his career nearly ended on health grounds.
But they missed a flurry of chances with the striking line-up of Manvir Singh, Ashique Kuruniyan and Liston Colaco showing little coordination upfront, underlining the lack of firepower in the absence of Roy Krishna and David Williams.
Oman made a late comeback to defeat India 2-1 in the opening Group E match of the 2022 FIFA World Cup and the 2023 AFC Asian Cup Joint-Qualifiers at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati, on Thursday.
Just as BFC looked set for a win, Machado (78th) struck again to ensure his team got a point.
AFC Cup tie moved to neutral venue after Australia denies Myanmar club visas
India face tough Iraq test sans Chhetri
India captain Sunil Chhetri added another feather to his illustrious cap as he overtook Argentina star Lionel Messi to become the second-highest goalscorer among the current players in international football.
The first meeting of the season between Hero Indian Super League heavyweights finished all square after FC Goa and Bengaluru FC shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw, in Margao, on Monday.
Bengaluru FC had to settle for their third draw in as many matches in Hero Indian Super League after being held goalleds by Jamshedpur FC at the JRD Tata Sports Complex in Jamshedpur on Sunday.
IM Vijayan lauded Sunil Chhetri for his longevity and urged the youngsters to idolise the 35-year-old's work ethic.
Dimas Delgado found Harmanjot Khabra who routed the attack from the right and floated a perfect cross into the box. Chhetri leapt higher than Shubham Sarangi and headed home. The goal made him the first Indian player to record 50 goals contributions in the Hero ISL -- 42 goals and 8 assists.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Saturday
Defensive mistakes cost Bengaluru dear and helped Mumbai's cause
Granada and Bilbao complete match suspended after supporter's death
Goals from Ibrahim Mahudhee (64th minute) and Cornelius Stewart (80th) on either side of a Nili Perdomo (71st) spot-kick for the Blues gave Maziya the advantage ahead of the second leg in Bengaluru next week.
This will be the second time India will face Kuwait in the tournament. They had played out a 1-1 draw in an acrimonious Group A match last week.
Bengaluru FC and fourth-placed FC Pune City played out a listless goalless draw in the first leg semi-final of the Indian Super League match
