Bengaluru FC got the better of Kerala Blasters as the former ISL champions effortlessly won the Indian Super League match 4-2 in Fatorda Stadium on Sunday.
Bengaluru’s three goals in the second half turned the game around for the team. The match saw six goals, the highest number in a game this season.
Kerala took the lead in the first half in the 17th minute as Gary Hooper went on a long run through the middle to send the ball to Rahul K.P. on the right, who netted the ball from inside the box. Bengaluru’s Cleiton Silva, however, scored the equaliser in the 29th minute, thanks to a defensive error from Lalruatthara, to keep the stakes high.
In the second half, Bengaluru captain Sunil Chhetri missed a penalty early on when his shot was saved by Albino Gomes. But within a span of two minutes, Bengaluru scored two goals, from Norway's Kristian Opseth and Spaniard Dimas Delgado, which pretty much sealed the deal for the former champions.
While Jordan Murray’s goal in the 61st minute looked like the Blasters could still try and turn things around for them, skipper Chhetri came back to make up for the earlier missed penalty with a header off Harmanjot Khabra to net the ball in the 65th minute.
Delgado took home the ‘Hero of the Match’ honour.
“I’m so happy with the performance of the guys,” BFC coach Carles Cuadrat said. “It was a difficult match, a derby with lots of passion and emotion. We conceded an early goal due to our mistake in a set-piece, which is our weapon. We missed a penalty too. To comeback from that, we needed to be strong mentally. We showed that and worked as a unit. It’s a very important three points.”
KBFC coach Kibu Vicuna showed his frustration. “We conceded too many goals. In the last two games, we’ve conceded seven. It’s not possible to continue like this. It’s very difficult to score goals against Bengaluru but we got two. But the easy goals we concede ruin our chances,” he said.
