Bengaluru FC hold Odisha FC goalless

Bengaluru: Bengaluru FC and Odisha FC played out a goalless draw on a scalding Saturday evening at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium. 

Both sides were evenly matched in a contest that saw a multitude of goal-line clearances and splendid saves, with ‘keepers Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and Amrinder Singh outdoing each other with moments of brilliance.

With this result, BFC climbed to sixth, while Odisha went up to third on the league table. 

Bengaluru FC head coach Gerard Zaragoza handed a start to Shankar Sampingiraj at centre-back alongside Chinglensana Singh. 

Odisha dominated possession throughout the match, and BFC sat compact and looked to counter.

Mourtada Fall, Carlos Delgado and Ahmed Jahouh dealt well with Bengaluru’s press, while Amey Ranawade bombed forward constantly to support the attack. 

The hosts were thwarted by a goal-line clearance from Fall in the 11th minute as both teams found openings to spring attacks from. 

Nikhil Poojary’s clearance prompted a quick counter-attack spearheaded by Javi Hernandez and Oliver Drost. The latter’s goal-bound poke was cleared by Fall. 

Twinkle-toed Isak Vanlalruatfela constantly tested Poojary and the duo were involved in a fascinating battle.

Gurpreet denied Jerry Lalrinzuala with an out-stretched leg at the near post in the 31st minute.

Roy Krishna skipped clear of the BFC back-line and Gurpreet, but Sampingiraj recovered brilliantly and put in a vital goal-line clearance, before Gurpreet saved the rebound to ensure that the teams went into the break goalless. 

Early in the second half, Lalremtluanga Fanai looked to place the ball into the bottom right corner from the edge of the box, but Amrinder denied the 19-year-old with a full-stretch save. 

At the other end, Gurpreet came off his line smartly to deny Ranawade at the hour mark. 

Sunil Chhetri, fresh off the bench, stole the ball at the half-way line and played Drost in. The Dane slipped a through ball to Hernandez, whose chip towards an unmarked Ryan Williams was hacked away to safety by Ranawade. 

Substitute Pranjal Bhumij’s long-range effort shaved the top of the crossbar, and that was the closest either team came to finding the back of the net.