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Eugeneson Lyngdoh’s late strike ensured three crucial home points for defending champions Bengaluru FC. The young midfielder from Shillong scored a blinder of a goal in the 78th minute.
Sean Rooney was not in Ashley Westwood’s plan as the British manager just made one change in the starting lineup from their last week victory against Royal Wahingdoh. Robin Singh replaced the Aussie striker.
Kalyani Bharat FC got an opportunity to take the lead in the opening minutes when Lester Fernandes capitalized a back pass from Curtis Osano towards the goalkeeper. But surprisingly the midfielder failed to convert from a handshaking distance.
Few minutes later, Lester got yet another opportunity as the Bengaluru defenders went haywire. Unfortunately he failed to score once again.
Bengaluru take control after intial stutter
Bengaluru since then slowly took the grip of the match in their hands. They enjoyed the lion’s share of ball possession and looked much more positive in their approach. The newly created I-League side on the other hand lacked imagination and played lacklustre football.
Bengaluru FC completed the half on a better note than the visitors who could have easily been on the top had their attackers not miss easy sitters.
Kalyani Bharat FC started the second half on a positive note. They started gaining more possession and controlled the game in the midfield.
Bengaluru got their best opportunity in the 58th minute, when Chhetri’s miss kick took a deflection of Gouramangi Singh and fell for Eugeneson who failed to convert a header from a very close range.
Bengaluru finally scored in the 73rd minute. Bengaluru FC made a brilliant counter-attacking move. Eugeneson Lyngdoh got very little space but converted a brilliant shot. Arindam Bhattacharya desperately tried but failed to stop the fantastic strike.
Manjeet Singh, Steven Dias and G. Vignesh were introduced in the second half by Stuart Watkiss to introduce more firepower in their attack. After the goal the visiting team attacked in numbers but the Bengaluru FC defenders were instrumental in protecting their lead.
Bengaluru FC moves up to the top half of the league table with today’s three points. The newbies on the other hand struggle at the bottom half with just one point from 3 outings.
