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NorthEast United FC hosted the undefeated Bengaluru FC in their fifth home game in the Indian Super League 2018-19 edition. The game promised to be an exciting encounter given it was a clash between the table toppers.
Bengaluru who sit at the top of the table wanted to keep their unbeaten run going in the tournament. Northeast United wanted to dethrone Bengaluru at the top of the table and end their unbeaten run in Guwahati.
The game began with both the teams taking a cautious approach to the game and both the sides showed signs of not wanting to lose the game or concede an early goal. The scoreboard at halftime read Northeast United 0-0 Bengaluru FC.
In the second half both the sides showed more vigour and showed urgency to win the game. Northeast United made use of the Possession they had and scored in the 64th minute through Federico Gallego. Bengaluru though were not the ones to go out of the tie without a fight, and they equalised through Chencho in the dying minutes of the game to keep Bengaluru FC unbeaten run intact. The game ended 1-1 a fair result given the way the game was played.
On that note let us take a look at the five talking points from today's game
#5 Refereeing decision again at the forefront of things
While the nation wants to see, young Indian players develop and play a better brand of football. It also wants to see the overall level of football development. While the stadiums and practice grounds to the dressing rooms have seen an upliftment, the standard of refereeing has remained the same, or if one has to put it aptly, it has deteriorated.
during this match too certain decisions that were taken by the referee had a dubious nature to it. The first incident that comes to mind is the disallowed goal of Ogbeche in the first half for offside. Ogbeche initially was in an offside position when the pass from Provat Lakhra was played, and that is why he didn't run after the ball. The linesman didn't raise his flag, and Bengaluru kept playing. Albert Serran played a backpass to Gurpreet which Ogbeche intercepted and slotted the ball past Gurpreet.
As per the rule book, the goal should have been allowed as Bengaluru resumed play and Serran's position made Ogbeche in an onside position. But, the linesman, it seems flagged him offside for the previous segment of the game which ended the moment Serran played the back pass to the keeper. Given the ultimate result of the game, this decision proved to be costly for the Highlanders.
A lot of fouls were also at times given and not given which hampered both BFC and NEUFC. The play that lead to Bengaluru's equaliser also had an element of doubt as it looks like Reagan could have been fouled but the referee waved play on.
#4 Bengaluru missing Miku
Right from the moment the referee got the game away it seemed evident that Bengaluru was sort of missing something in their gameplay. Sunil Chhetri played as main target man instead of his favoured left wing, and it didn't seem to be working on the night for the Blues from Bangalore. While Chhetri has had tremendous success playing in the number nine position, he has of late prefer the left flank more.
Miku's absence was felt in the way Bengaluru went about in attack as they lacked a proper target man. His ability to get past defenders with the support from Chhetri and Udanta from the flanks is what was missing in today's game for Bengaluru. Francisco Hernandez who played in the left side had a torrid time getting past the likes of Lakhra and Redeem.
Miku is also such a player whose presence instils a certain amount of fear in the mind of the opponents, and that was another significant aspect which was missing from their game today.
#3 Provat Lakra's injury was the turning point of the game
Yesterday in the pre-match press conference NorthEast United gaffer Eelco Schattorie mentioned that he liked the way Lakra played in the right-back position. Lakra's main USP has been his hard tackling game and positioning sense. Eelco made it a point to include his hard tackling aspect into NEUFC game plan for today's fixture.
As the game started, it was evident that Lakra was the best choice Eelco had against a side like Bengaluru. He closed down on Francisco numerous times and made sure the likes of Chhetri and Cisco didn't have much space to float in those dangerous crosses. He even had an excellent game regarding passing and often played pinpoint accurate passes to Redeem and Ogbeche which caused more than a few problems for the Bengaluru defence.
In the second half to he made sure Chhetri didn't get past him and also went in hard on some of the BFC players making his presence felt. It was all going according to plan for the lad from West Bengal as his side was leading 1-0 and him putting up a lion's performance in defence but then lighting struck as he twisted his knee while landing after clearing an aerial ball. The fall seemed to be problematic as he had to be taken off the game on a stretcher and a near perfect evening came to a tragic early end for the lad from Bengal.
Eelco did admit that one of the turning points of the game was Lakra getting injured.
#2 Ogbeche and Gallego continue to pull strings for NEUFC
Federico Gallego and Bartholomew Ogbeche have been the chief architects of NorthEast United's success this season on the field. While Gallego is the leagues leading Assist provider, Ogbeche is the joint top scorer in the league. Both, of them, have been in mercurial form this season and the main reason why NorthEast United FC find themselves in the second spot in the league standings.
Today also it was mainly these two that caused most of the problems for the Bengaluru defence. While Ogbeche had a goal disallowed in the first half, Gallego made it 1-0 for the hosts from an Ogbeche assist.
It is clearly evident that every attacking move NorthEast United instigate this season is through Gallego and Ogbeche.
During the second half, there was a brief spell after NEUFC had taken the lead when Gallego and Ogbeche ran riot through the BFC defence. Ogbeche also showcased some of the best skills seen in this season's ISL today when he beat Juanan and Khabra with a single turn which left everyone in awe. He went onto repeat something similar in the second half too and saw the resulting shot go inches wide.
#1 Super Sub Chencho keeps BFC unbeaten streak intact
It was the 70th minute, and NorthEast United was leading Bengaluru FC 1-0. The way the game was poised at that moment, it looked like Bengaluru's unbeaten run would come to an end in Guwahati. Carles Cuadrat, the Bengaluru coach, took off Albert Serran and bought in Chencho. A clear intent of his intentions to get at least a point from the game as he took off a defender and brought in a striker.
A lot has been said about Chencho failing to make his mark in the ISL and if it was the correct decision by Bengaluru to sign the Bhutanese skipper. With Miku being injured Chencho has been in the limelight for the past few games, but he hasn't been able to do justice to the hype he was getting in the past few days.
Chencho though superbly answered his critics as he went onto score in added time through a pictorial bicycle kick which will be remembered by the fans for years to come. The importance of the goal cannot be undermined as it helped Bengaluru secure a point from a tough away fixture and more importantly keep their unbeaten run for the season going.
Chencho personally scored his dream first goal in the ISL, and it is something he will cherish for a long, long time.
