BFC's winless run at ISL continues

In a cagey and hard-fought clash, Bengaluru FC and Jamshedpur FC played out a goalless draw at the GMC Athletic Stadium in Bambolim on Monday.

It was a result both teams deserved but not the one either needed. For Bengaluru, struggling under the weight of their past successes, this stretches their winless run to seven and leaves them second bottom with six points from eight games.

Jamshedpur, on the other hand, were looking up, trying to capitalise on Mumbai City FC’s loss on Sunday. But a point leaves them three behind the leaders at 12 from seven games.

Bengaluru made two changes to their line-up with Udanta Singh and Suresh Wangjam, returning from suspension, coming in. With Naorem Roshan Singh suspended, Ashique Kuruniyan returned to left back position. Sunil Chhetri was once again left out of the first eleven.

Jamshedpur suffered a setback even before the ball rolled as striker Nerijus Valskis was replaced by Jordan Murray with the former having suffered an injury during warm-up.

Both teams played cautiously and felt their way into the contest with the match opening up as the clock ticked on.

There were good performances in the middle for Bengaluru from Suresh and Danish Farooq but there was a disconnect as the forward balls were often wasted and the strikers often dropped deep. The defence too looked out of possession.

The match sputtered to life in the final 10 minutes of the first half.

A slick move saw Suresh find Ashique out wide and the latter sent a precise cross onto Cleiton Silva’s forehead which the Brazilian directed towards goal, forcing a brilliant save from TP Rehenesh.

At the other end, Greg Stewart, who went on his vintage mazy runs at will but struggled to make them count, forced Gurpreet Singh Sandhu into a fine save with a venomous shot.

But the Scotsman remained a threat all along despite being below his best. His rasping drive after wriggling through three defenders little after the hour mark was the closest Jamshedpur came in the second half.

There was a slew of half chances for Owen Coyle’s team but it was Bengaluru who ended the game stronger.

Chhetri came on for the last 20 minutes for Cleiton, who was visibly annoyed with the coach’s decision.

The Indian captain almost made the difference as a combination of him and Alan, both jumping for an 84th-minute Ashique freekick, struck the bar with a header.

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