ISL 2018-19: Bengaluru FC 2-1 FC Pune City - Hits and flops

Rahul Bheke pulled off a winner two minutes before the final whistle - after scoring an own goal - to help Bengaluru FC see off FC Pune City 2-1 during their reverse Indian Super League (ISL) fixture at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Friday, November 30.

In the first half, minutes after BFC had taken the lead through a fabulous Udanta Singh strike, Bheke was unlucky to deflect the ball into his own net.

However, he made amends for that with a fine second-half performance and eventually got the winner for the hosts.

With that result, the Blues extend their lead at the top of the table to five points. They are now on 22 out of a possible 24 points and the second-placed FC Goa have played a game more.

BFC next travel to Guwahati, where they take on NorthEast United on December 5.

Here are the hits and flops from the game:

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Udanta Singh (Bengaluru FC) - Hit

The Bengaluru FC winger is in top form as he converted a half-chance into a wonderful goal. He side-stepped Lalchhuanmawia Fanai after receiving the cut-back from Harmanjot Khabra, smartly made space for himself and curled the ball into the goal with his left.

Before this game, BFC captain Sunil Chhetri had indicated that the winner against Delhi Dynamos would do a world of good for young Udanta and he showed glimpses of why he's a force to reckon with.

Udanta was unlucky not to get a second goal in the 71st minute. He had the same bag of tricks - he side-stepped Sahil Panwar this time to unleash an unstoppable shot into the goal. Unfortunately for BFC, the post stood in between Udanta and his third goal of the season.

That apart, Udanta had a role to play during BFC's corner routines. Delgado would play a short corner to Chhetri, who would then set it up for Udanta for a shot from the edge of the box. Pune had it covered well and were able to contain at least that threat.

Lalchhuanmawia Fanai (FC Pune City) - Flop

Lalchhuanmawia Fanai was substituted after 34 minutes by FC Pune City

The former Bengaluru FC full-back spent only 34 miuntes on the pitch before being replaced by rising defender Sahil Panwar. You could understand why Pradyum Reddy took him off given his performance in those 34 minutes.

Fanai was unable to man the flank, allowing Harmanjot Khabra and Udanta Singh to make frequent runs down the right. The full-back also couldn't keep up with the pace of Udanta and hardly contributed to the attack for Pune.

Udanta was easily able to manoeuvre around Fanai to score BFC's first open in the 11th minute of the game itself.

Reddy sent his players out to the athletics track to warm up then and about 20 minutes later, Fanai was substituted.

Reddy even sat down with Panwar and explained what he needs to do as the left-back for about five minutes before sending him on.

Was he subbed because of his poor performance or did he suffer a knock during the game?

Pune coach Pradyum Reddy confirmed that it was a tactical substitution after the end of the match.

Rahul Bheke (Bengaluru FC) - Hit

Bengaluru FC's Rahul Bheke struck an own goal and the winner against FC Pune City

Centre-back duties probably hurt Rahul Bheke in the early stages of the game. The injury to Albert Serran put the onus on Bheke, usually a right-back, to man the central defence along with Juanan Gonzalez.

It's not the first time that Bheke has been fielded as a centre-back during his time with Bengaluru FC. He has achieved the duty quite well last season when BFC missed John Johnson or Juanan due to injuries.

However, the sudden shift in mindset that comes along with being a centre-back probably made Bheke commit the error that led to Pune's equaliser in the first half.

He stretched out a leg while being in front of the goal in the hope of emphatically stopping a cross by Marko Stankovic from getting to the intended target - Robin Singh or Marcelinho. However, he was a bit late in making the block and the ball instead rolled into the back of the net, making BFC restart a game in which they had built a comfortable lead.

That error had a big change in the way Bheke played the rest of the game.

Bheke didn't panic when under pressure from Robin Singh to head the ball to Gurpreet just after Erik Paartalu had the woodwork at the other end just before haf-time.

Bheke actually put on a better performance in the second half for the hosts.

And then he redeemed himself by converting off a corner just two minutes before full-time.

Three defenders were involved in that goal as Nishu's long punt from the left was played out to Bheke in front of the goal by Harmanjot Khabra.

That goal won BFC the game and also turned Bheke into a hero.

Robin Singh (FC Pune City) - Flop

FC Pune City's Robin Singh makes his case after bringing down Erik Paartalu of Bengaluru FC

There's a joke doing the rounds on social media that BFC defender Rahul Bheke has more goals than FC Pune City frontman Robin Singh. Even if you take into account Bheke's own goal, he still has found the net on more occasions than Robin, a former BFC striker.

Robin, known for his physical supremacy on the pitch, was strangely unable to even win headers against the BFC defenders.

Robin is being played as the main target man by Pune coach Pradyum Reddy after their other striker Emiliano Alfaro moved to ATK on loan and his replacement, Iain Hume, is yet to gain complete fitness.

Robin's contribution, however, was negligible and he only made things worse by stopping a run by Erik Paartalu and earning the wrath of the West Block Blues, BFC's supporters.

Robin has scored against Bengaluru FC - there was that brace for East Bengal when BFC were still in the I-League in the 2016-17 season. Since then, he hasn't done anything noteworthy and that spilt onto the pitch for 90 minutes against BFC.

Dimas Delgado (Bengaluru FC) - Hit

Bengaluru FC's Dimas Delgado wins a tussle with Robin Singh of FC Pune City

The Blues sorely missed Dimas Delgado in the previous game against Delhi Dynamos and that showed in their performance too as they were struggling to create chances in the match. Delgado was serving a one-match suspension for a red card but he returned to this tie to conduct the midfield.

Delgado had a part in most of the chances that BFC made. He was winning headers from the goal-kicks, laying it up for others before moving further up the field.

He also made those runs from behind the striker to take Pune by surprise and ended up cutting back for his forward line. The dead-ball specialist, he dropped those corners right at the centre of the box for his teammates, picking out the run at the correct moment. Pune, however, stayed strong to defend against those set-pieces.

Whether it's providing that ball for the full-back to exploit at the flank or the straightforward attack, Delgado executed his role perfectly.

In a 4-3-3 system that BFC generally adopt, Delgado is that creative playmaker at the No 10 role. But he contributes much more than that, which was evident in BFC's performance against Pune.