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Bengaluru FC suffered a huge loss at the hands of Hyderabad FC at the Kanteerava Stadium on Friday, December 23. A brace from Bartholomew Ogbeche and a well-taken goal from Joel Chianese decided the outcome of the game as the hosts succumbed to a 3-0 loss.
The hosts started the game on a high, but they were unable to break down the resilient Hyderabad defense. The Nizams finally broke the deadlock in the 26th minute. A well-worked free-kick saw Ogbeche firing the ball into the bottom left corner from 30 yards out after receiving a simple pass from Halicharan Narzary.
The duo combined yet again before half-time. Ogbeche's firm header found its way into the net, despite Sandesh Jhingan's attempted clearance, after Narzary's delicious cross met the Nigerian's head in the 44th minute.
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The hosts nearly pulled one back through their talisman, Sunil Chhetri. Suresh Wangjam's dinked ball found Sunil Chhetri at the far post, who took a touch before taking a shot. However, Gurmeet made himself big and rushed out to save the shot from Chhetri during the stoppage time of the first half.
Akash Mishra, who was provided with the license to get into the opposition penalty box, pulled the ball back to Ogbeche. However, the Hyderabad FC forward's firm shot struck the post in the 56th minute. Udanta Singh and Javi Hernandez came close to scoring, but they weren't able to find the target.
The Nizams secured a comfortable win in the 90th minute. Substitute Abdul Rabeeh was provided with all the time in the world to make a run through the right channel and pick out Joel Chianese. The Australian made no mistake in slotting the ball into the back of the net to put the game beyond Bengaluru's reach.
Manolo Marquez's side climbed above Mumbai City FC to sit at the top of the pile atleast until tomorrow. Bengaluru FC, on the other hand, are eighth in the league table having bagged just 10 points from 11 games. Simon Grayson will be hoping for better performances in the coming weeks.
Here's a look at how Bengaluru FC players fared during their defeat to Hyderabad FC:
Bengaluru FC player ratings:
Gurpreet Singh Sandhu - 5/10: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu was helpless between the posts against Hyderabad FC. The shot-stopper nearly kept out the third goal, but it wasn't meant to be.
Namgyal Bhutia - 6/10: The young full-back completed a couple of key passes as he was constantly making attacking runs before Hyderabad FC scored. He acted as the playmaker from the wings and helped out Bengaluru's forwards.
Aleksandar Jovanovic - 5.5/10: Jovanovic struggled throughout the game. He was caught out of his position during the second goal and watched Halicharan complete a sumptuous cross without being able to defend it.
Sandesh Jhingan - 5.5/10: Like Jovanovic, Sandesh Jhingan played a part in Bengaluru FC's defensive issues. The centre-back failed to clear Ogbeche's header, instead rifling the ball into the back of his own net.
Parag Shrivas - 6/10: Parag Shrivas was taken off before the hour mark as he struggled to keep the opponents quiet.
Suresh Wangjam - 6.5/10: Suresh Wangjam was arguably the best starter for Bengaluru FC. The midfielder found Sunil Chhetri with an exquisite delivery in the first half, but the skipper was not able to convert the chance. He completed another key pass and made two interceptions in the middle of the park.
Danish Farooq - 5/10: Danish Farooq was taken off after half-time as he struggled to create an impression. He struggled to stay with Hitesh Sharma and was not able to get the better of him. Farooq also gave cheap possession away.
Javi Hernandez - 6.5/10: Javi Hernandez nearly added one more to his goal and assist tally. Roy Krishna was not able to convert following an extraordinary through ball from Javi to split the backline. He, then, failed to keep the ball down after Roy Krishna set him up for a chance in the second half.
Roshan Singh - 5.5/10: Roshan Singh lasted just 45 minutes on the pitch since he was not able to make a decent contribution. He had an excellent chance to whip a cross in to find Krishna, but he failed to pull the trigger. Roshan's indecisiveness let him down.
Sunil Chhetri - 6.5/10: Sunil Chhetri came close to scoring once in the first half. However, the opponent's shot-stopper rushed out to make things difficult for the Bengaluru FC skipper. He completed a key pass and pressed high up the pitch as well.
Roy Krishna - 6.5/10: Roy Krishna had only one chance in the first half to get on the scoresheet. However, a Hyderabad FC defender threw his body to block the Fiji international's shot. Krishna also set-up Javi later in the second half.
Substitutes:
Alan Costa - 6/10: Alan Costa failed to cover Chianese for the third goal. The centre-back was solid apart from that error.
Pablo Perez - 5.5/10: Pablo Perez was not able to make his mark in the middle of the park.
Udanta Singh - 7/10: Udanta Singh was the best player for Bengaluru FC by a country mile. The right winger was constantly troubling Akash Mishra and nearly scored in the second half after cutting inside.
Prabir Das - 6/10: The wing-back was not able to affect the game after coming on in the 55th minute.
Sivasakthi Narayanan - N/A: He came on during the latter stages of the game.
