Bengaluru FC vs Jamshedpur FC: Danish Farooq's early goal separates 2 sides in the bottom half of the ISL 2022-23 table

A resilient Bengaluru FC registered a hard-fought 1-0 victory against Jamshedpur FC at the Shree Kanteerava Stadium on Saturday, December 17. Danish Farooq's fifth-minute strike ended up becoming the decider of the ISL 2022-23 encounter.

Simon Grayson's team came into the encounter on the back of a fighting defeat against Kerala Blasters. However, they had a lot of positives to take from their last encounter. While Grayson made just one change to their starting lineup, the Men of Steel started without their striker Daniel Chima Chukwu.

The home side started the game on the front foot, pressing high and rattling the Jamshedpur FC players. Bengaluru FC needed just five minutes to break the deadlock. With Sunil Chhetri and Roy Krishna combining for a delicate move, the latter found Farooq with a cross from deep.

The Srinagar-born midfielder set himself up beautifully on the edge of the box with his first touch and hammered it home with the second.

The Red Miners looked overwhelmed throughout the opening exchanges as Bengaluru FC continued their charge forward even after pulling ahead. In the 10th minute, Krishna had a pop at goal from an acute angle but his effort was deflected wide by a Jamshedpur FC defender.

As the minutes rolled by, Aidy Boothroyd's team slowly grew into the game and Ishan Pandita had an opportunity to equalize in the 19th minute. After a couple of half-clearances from a throw-in, the ball fell for Pandita, who volleyed it towards the Bengaluru goal. But veteran custodian Gurpreet Singh Sandhu with a fingertip save pushed it onto the post.

Throughout the rest of the half, the visitors did well to get the ball deep in the opposition's half but their final-third play lacked a cutting edge. Bengaluru FC went into the half-time break with a narrow lead.

---

Bengaluru FC expertly negate Jamshedpur FC's late charge

After the break, Boothroyd opted to bring on Chima Chukwu in place of Farukh Choudhary. As the game resumed, the Blues had another red-hot start as Javi Hernandez tested goalkeeper Vishal Yadav with an early attempt after a defensive lapse from the visitors.

Minutes later, the Spanish maestro struck the upright with a long-range effort. It was evident that Jamshedpur FC needed a reaction. The gaffer brought on a couple more fresh legs to turn the game in their favor as Harry Sawyer and Ritwik Kumar Das came on for the visitors.

A string of quality chances fell Pandita's way, but the young Indian forward failed to convert either of them. But chances were few and far between for Boothroyd's side as Bengaluru FC's defense showed great composure.

As the referee blew the final whistle, the Blues leapfrogged East Bengal to go eighth in the league standings. Meanwhile, last season's Shield winners are still stuck in 10th place with just four points.