BFC fall to their fourth straight defeat

Matti Steinmann scored the lone goal as Bengaluru FC fell to their fourth straight defeat in the Indian Super League, this time at the hands of SC East Bengal at the Fatorda Stadium on Saturday.

With the win, East Bengal continued their recent run of good form while Bengaluru’s hopes for a top four finish took a massive hit.

Bengaluru, with Naushad Moosa at the helm after Carles Cuadrat was shown the door earlier this week, showed improvements in the second half but missed the cutting edge in the final third. And when they did test the goalkeeper, Debjit Mujumder was equal to the task.

Bengaluru lined up with just four foreigners in their line-up, and looked a more balanced side with the players returning to their best positions. Youngster Parag Srivas came into the line-up in place of suspended Harmanjot Khabra while Udanta Singh and Ajit Kumar also found themselves in the starting eleven.

Bengaluru showed signs of life early on with Cleiton Silva heading just over from a long throw. However, East Bengal grew into the game, with the Kolkata giants focusing most of their attack through the right flank. Bright Enobakhare proved a handful and Jacques Maghoma was also a lively presence in the middle.

The opener came in the 20th minute. Once again, it was an attack from the right flank that started the move. But it was BFC’s inability to clear their lines that cost them as the ball shifted flanks and Steinmann, left completely unmarked in the middle, turned in Narayan Das’ cross with the outside of his foot.

Moosa brought on Kristian Opseth and Pratik Chaudhari for Udanta Singh and Srivas respectively at the break and the Norwegian added physicality and a strong presence in the middle. The change nearly paid dividends with Sunil Chhetri playing off Opseth and firing a rasping shot which was tipped over by Debjit.

There was a moment of scare for Bengaluru 12 minutes from time, when substitute Namgyal Bhutia gave the ball away cheaply, but Gurpreet Singh Sandhu was equal to Enobakhare’s effort. The Indian number one was again in action to deny the Nigerian moments later.

At the other end, Erik Paartalu had an effort blocked blocked late in the game.