Late drama denies BFC victory on debut
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Missed penalties, wasted chances, a red card and late drama; Bengaluru Football Club's first match had everything a match needs to be entertaining except for a result. BFC and Mohun Bagan played out a hard fought one-all draw at the Bangalore Football Stadium, here on Sunday.
Playing in front of a highly charged home crowd of over 5000, Bengaluru FC went ahead in the 50th minute through a Sean Rooney goal only to see what could have been a debut win, slip from their hands in the dying moments with Thoi Singh receiving marching orders in the 90th minute and Sabeeth Sathyan striking deep into injury time to level the match.
For the home side, the match started on a turbulent note when Bagan midfielder Katsumi Yusa was fouled inside the box in the seventh minute by Keegan Perreira. But much to Bengaluru FC's relief, the resultant penalty, taken by Katsuni himself was well saved by custodian Pawan Kumar. Bagan had their chances to go ahead, especially in the 24th minute when they were awarded a freekick after Thoi Singh brought down Adil Ahmed Khan and was penalised with a yellow card.
Both teams looked dangerous from the outset. Bengaluru FC came close to scoring when captain John Johnson rattled the post in the 34th minute.
The players returned to the dugout with no score on the board. The second half couldn't have started better for Bengaluru FC as Beingaichho won the ball and fed Vishal Kumar, allowing the full back to whip a low cross across for Rooney to convert at the far post sending fans into a frenzy. It could have been a second goal for Bengaluru FC when Perreira was brought down in the box by Aibo rlang Khongjee in the 51st minute only to see Rooney’s penalty saved by Bagan keeper Samdip Nandy.
With the team leading, coach Westwood sent out Sunil Chhetri in the 55th minute to deafening cheers from the stands. Mohun Bagan then went on the offensive with Katsumi twice hitting the frame in the span of ten minutes. Chhetri and Hangal both missed highly presentable chances at the other end.
Bengaluru FC were reduced to ten men in the 90th minute when Thoi Singh was sent off for simulation. The big blow came when Sathyan was allowed a free header at the far post in the 92nd minute following Denson’s corner to level thescore one-one.
Rejuvenated by their late goal, Mohun Bagan launched a counter attack with Katsumi feeding Muranda but the striker’s slight delay allowed Johnson to block the shot leaving both teams sharing the honours. Other matches Shillong Lajong rode on Trinidad World Cupper Cornel Glen's double strike to script a shock 30 defeat of former champions Dempo in their opener on Sunday.
Results: Prayag United 2 (R. Martin 65; E. Brown 75) bt Rangdajied United 0; Dempo 0 lt to Shillong Lajong 3 (C. Glenn 30, 67; B. Haokip 38).
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