Indian Super League: Bengaluru FC fumble at home again

Bengaluru: Coach Pep Munoz's wait for his first Indian Super League victory was stretched to three matches as Bengaluru FC played out a goalless draw against direct rivals Mumbai City FC at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium here on Saturday.

On a day when club captain Sunil Chhetri, for that matter the entire team, managed no shot on target, BFC (at fourth with 16 points) are now four points off the top with three rounds to go while table-toppers Mohun Bagan have a match in hand. BFC, whose home record was questionable despite boisterous support, will now play all their remaining matches away. 

The result doesn't augur well for Mumbai City FC too, who are also now three matches without a win and have dropped to third spot with 19 points.

The match, in fact, promised much more as BFC attacked from the kick off with BFC winger Sirojiddin Kuziev missing the bottom left corner of the net by inches following a quick counter attack.

Mumbai's right-back Valpuia responded seconds later as he volleyed from 30-odd yards to test shot-stopper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu.

The half turned facile from thereon as both sides settled down into their formation with the intention to exert dominance on ball possession.

No real chance came up until the 39th minute when Ashique Kuruniyan kept a floating cross from the left for his team-mate Ryan at the far post but the Aus-Indian managed to side net on the volley.

The next clear-cut chance came in the second half and at the 48th minute when Finnish midfielder Joni Kauko exuded his class by floating the ball over the BFC defence for a well-timed run of Lallinzuala Chhangte, who did rounded off Sandhu but couldn't keep his effort on the target.

Following the let-off, BFC were handed a double body blow as their key right-back Nikhil Poojary and forward Williams were subbed off due to injuries in separate incidents before the hour mark.

The fresh legs, however, brought fresh ideas too as substitutes Namgyal Bhutia and young winger Soham Varshneya coordinated well with Briaian to open up back-to-back chances from the right but none turned decisive.

The second half, however, was all about Ashique and his defence-terrorising run from the left flank that troubled MCFC, who often looked helpless in front of his trickery. The in-form winger, however, couldn't bring the finesse to his game after doing all the hard work.

BFC defence did turn error prone towards the final phases of the match but MCFC attack was equally wasteful and failed to punish their rivals.