Dominant BFC ease to victory

Blues sign off with 3-0 win over Churchill

Champions Bengaluru FC capped off their I-League season in style with a comfortable 3-0 win over Churchill Brothers at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium here on a rainy Saturday.

Goals from Daniel Lalhlimpuia (fifth minute), Udanta Singh (36th minute) and Mandar Rao Desai (84th minute) worked for Bengaluru as they ended their league run with a fourth-place finish with 30 points. Churchill, meanwhile are sixth with 20 points.

It was their last league game of the season and Bengaluru wanted to end on a high. But with the side, head coach Albert Roca, named against a confident Churchill outfit, one wouldn’t have thought of a performance of this nature by the Blues.

Just six of the regular starters featured in the playing eleven as Gursimrat Singh and goalkeeper Lalthuammawia Ralte made their first league starts, while Desai and Malsawmzuala were recalled after a long gap.

But all doubts were soon washed away in the persistent rain as Bengaluru were on the money from the word go.

Playing in a more direct and clinical manner, the city-based side didn’t allow Churchill to settle, scoring in the fifth minute. In what was their first attacking move of the game, Gursimrat chased down a through ball, whipped in a well weighed cross for Lalhlimpuia to guide it behind Naveen Kumar in the Churchill goal as Bengaluru went ahead.

Though the early goal caught Churchill by surprise, they didn’t retreat into a shell and soon came close to drawing parity with Anthony Wolfe releasing Anthony De Souza 20 yards from goal, in the very next minute. The Goan darted ahead, twisted and turned past two defenders, but was eventually let down by his shot as Ralte gathered the ball.

Bengaluru were the next to have a shot at the goal with Udanta and Lalhlimpuia combining well. The duo got past the Churchill defence with their quick passing, but this time Kumar did well to parry a Lalhlimpuia shot without much fuss.

That was just a teaser of what was to come as Bengaluru bombarded the Churchill goal with their swift attacks and soon made it 2-0. This time Udanta’s pace and nippy foot-work was on display as he beat the last defender, drew the goalkeeper out only to round him off from a tight angle.

Though Churchill had their chances, the closest being in the opening minutes of the second half when Adil Khan blasted his shot over the crossbar from six yards, nothing seemed to bother the Bengaluru defence as the backline held their ground to thwart Churchill’s threat.

Later, the champions capped off a rather below-par season with a sublime goal from Desai. The Goan midfielder curling in a left-footer from outside the box to beat a diving Kumar.