A 10-man Bengaluru FC (BFC) withstood a spirited challenge from Jamshedpur FC before emerging 2-1 winner in a Group-A league match of the Durand Cup, at the Kishore Bharati Stadium, here on Wednesday.
Sunil Chhetri and Roy Krishna found the target once on either side of the halves. Substitute Rishi scored the lone goal for Jamshedpur immediately after Bengaluru was reduced to 10 men following the ejection of defender Hira Mondal in the 60th minute.
Bengaluru, which started well, created the first scoring opportunity in the first minute of the action but midfielder Danish Farooq failed to produce the desired finish.
Facing a team of spirited young boys from Jamshedpur’s reserve side, BFC took some time to find its rhythm. The former ISL champion opened the scoring from a set-piece situation in the 23rd minute when the Indian captain Sunil Chhetri nodded home a corner from new signing Prabir Das.
The change of ends saw the arrival of BFC’s prized signing Roy Krishna, who soon combined with Chhetri to produce the second goal in the 56th minute.
BFC suffered a setback after seeing its newly signed left-back Mondal collecting his second booking of the match following a rash foul on Jamshedpur midfielder Lenin Singh near the hour mark.
Jamshedpur used the opportunity to pull one back as Rishi volleyed home a finely set free-kick from Vikash Singh in the 61st minute.
Jamshedpur tried hard to find the equaliser but the Bengaluru defence held strong to ensure the win.
In a Group-D match, Odisha FC came out with a strong showing to down ISL rival NorthEast United FC by half a dozen goals (6-0) at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati.
The results:
Group A (Kolkata): Jamshedpur FC 1 (Rishi 61) lost to Bengaluru FC 2 (Sunil Chhetri 23, Roy Krishna 56).
Group D (Guwahati): North East United FC 0 lost to Odhisa FC 6 (Jerry 14, 37, Nandhakumar 5, Isak 81, Mauricio 87, Thoiba 90)
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