Eugeneson Lyngdoh's brilliant 78th minute goal helped Bengaluru FC notch a 1-0 win over debutants Kalyani Bharat FC in an ill-tempered Hero I-League match, here on Sunday.
Lyngdoh, whom the Blues signed up this season, continued his goal-scoring spree with a curving long shot over an advanced goalkeeper Arindam Bhattacharya as champions BFC recorded their second win in five outings while Kalyani Bharat slid to their second defeat in three matches.
Lyngdoh, the 28-year old-from Meghalaya, more than made up for the absence of regular striker Sean Rooney who was benched for the game in a move that evoked no surprise given the Aussie's poor form.
The goal, Lyngdoh's fourth in the tournament and sixth in as many matches, including the Federation Cup and the AFC Champions League play-off, provided some luster to an otherwise drab and physical encounter with tempers on short fuse.
There was little to enthuse about the first-half that saw both teams wasting gilt-edged scoring chances besides indulging in some crunching tackles, a couple of which certainly merited a booking.
Kalyani Bharat probably had the best of opportunities early in the half when a casual backpass by central defender Curtis Osano to goalkeeper Lalthuammawia Ralte was picked up by Lester Fernandes who advanced into the box unchallenged, but shot wide.
A relieved Blues then picked up the pace and forced a few dangerous moves one of which saw Beikhokei Beingaichcho crossing for Eugeneson Lyngdoh who was a step slow as the ball bounced in front of goalkeeper Bhattacharya and the custodian collected it in nick of time.
Thereafter, it was an up-and-down affair marked by some ugly tackles that FIFA referee Tejas Nagvenkar chose to ignore without so much as a verbal warning to the guilty. With neither team able to make any headway, the first session ended goalless.
On resumption, the pace noticeably picked up with the Blues seeing more of the action to have the visitors defending despearately. However, the hosts were seen in poor light in set-piece play as they failed to convert any of the seven corners.
Kalyani Bharat did put together a few dangerous moves, but BFC's two central defenders, John Johnson, still nursing a head injury that forced him to wear the head mask, and Osano were unbeatable on the day.
BFC's persistence finally paid off as Lyngdoh, in a moment of inspiration, rifled a shot from about 25 yards out for the only goal of the match.
In another match, Mumbai FC were unlucky to come out with just a solitary point from their first home match against Sporting Clube de Goa at the refurbished Cooperage Football Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday evening.
Mumbai FC enjoyed domination throughout the match but were forced to share honours with the Goan club in a goalless draw.
Playing in front of 3,500 supporters, Mumbai FC took control from the opening whistle and created better chances. Strikers Josimar da Silva from Brazil and Mohammed Rafi received good support from the midfield, which certainly missed the services of captain Climax Lawrence. However, the hosts were let down by lack of finishing.
They put a lot of pressure on the Sporting Clube defence and had three clear attempts at the rival goal inside the first 20 minutes, but without much luck.
First in the eighth minute, left-half Kuttymani did well to cut in before tapping the ball into the path of Josimar. But the Brazilian was unable to direct his shot on target. Later Cletus Paul saw his well-executed free-kick saved by an alert Sporting Clube goalkeeper Ravi Kumar, who had quite a busy time under the bar.
After the change of ends, Mumbai FC continued to hold the upper hand. In the 53rd minute Mumbai FC's Japanese recruit Taisuke Matsugae combined with Rafi to break through only to fire straight into the hands Ravi. Seven minutes later Josimar charged towards the rival goal but he delayed in releasing the ball and the ball was foiled.
The Goans hardly troubled the Mumbai FC defence and could only manage a couple of raids. The Goan defence marshalled by stoppers Sandesh Jhingan and Miguel Garcia combined well to deny Mumbai FC from creating many chances.
Mumbai FC have now opened their account with one point from this draw in four games while the Goans have two from their second draw also from four matches.
"I am happy with the one point we got from this match and now we will go step-by-step from here. I missed Climax and the players were also under pressure because this was our first home match after five years. The experience of Climax would certainly have helped us to push for a win," Mumbai FC coach Khalid Jamil said.