Pune: Second-halves and goals seem to have become identical for Indian Super League newbies Bengaluru FC just as a loss following a win is, for Pune. Coming home on the back of a splendid win over Jamshedpur FC in an away match, the ‘Stallions’ dropped points at home for the second consecutive game. An Adil Khan header had put them ahead in the first-half, but a Baljit Sahni send off combined with the ruthless Bengaluru attacks, saw the home team succumb to a 1-3 defeat at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex Stadium, Pune, on Thursday.
They started the first of the three back-to-back away matches win a loss against FC Goa, but since then there seems to be no stopping for ‘The Blues’ who have collected six points from possible nine in their past three encounters. Miku who scored the winner against NorthEast was once again the saviour for the away side, drawing levels first with a calm finish before giving his side a much nedded valuable lead with a clever powerful shot in the 78th minute.
The start was nowhere to what what the scoreline suggests in a game that saw Bengaluru fail to pass the ball with accuracy in the first-half. Amidst all three trivia, Chhetri did score a goal early moments in the first-half, but was adjudged to be offside.
Things however changed for sure, when Adil Kahn’s header came to the rescue. A Issac Vanmalsawma Chhakchhuak cross from the left wing saw Adil sneak in unmarked with a clever header to give his side the lead for a second time in as many matches.
A second yellow for Baljit Sahni in the 56th minute, however changed the course of the match, that seemed to be going in the host’s favour. Sensing the opportunity to overturn the 1 goal defecit against a 10 men Pune, coach Albert brought in both Edu Garcia and Toni together.
The move paid dividends as the ‘Stallions’ came under severe pressure from the Bengaluru frontmen and eventually conceded a goal in the 64th minute. Garcia’s fitting pass from an overlap run saw Miku equalise and 14 minutes later it was he again, doubling the lead against Pune.
Captain Sunil Chhetri scored a late goal to move over the disappointment of the early goal which was cancelled. It was 3-1 in the end to Bengaluru’s favour who now have 12 points from five matches and continue to dominate at the top.