ISL: After foiling New Year, Bengaluru FC ruin Holi for Kerala Blasters

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Bengaluru, March 1: There were only 22 players on the pitch, overseen by three officials. Two conductors - coaches Albert Roca and David James - directed the game from the sidelines, watched by the fourth official. The competition was supposed to be among them but few metres from the central patch at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, about 25,370 people - the most this stadium has seen - jostled for the spoils in what was after all a dead rubber between Bengaluru FC and Kerala Blasters on Thursday (March 1).

BFC, after a 3-1 win on New Year's Eve in Kochi, spoilt Holi too for Kerala Blasters, defeating them 2-0 in their last league game.

Blasters' fans, the Manjappada, were all over the stadium decked in their famous yellow jersey and ready for battle. "We make every ground our home," one of their banners read.

But BFC's fan army, the West Block Blues, had their reply ready - "Wear a helmet on your way out of top 4".

And the Manjappada fell silent soon after Miku scored Bengaluru FC's first goal in dying minutes. The Yellow Army, and even the Blasters' players, were clearly dazed as Udanta Singh doubled the scoreline the very next minute.

But it took 90 minutes for BFC for their trick to finally work. Erik Paartalu played a straight ball to Daniel Segovia, who was outside the box. The Spaniard set up Miku, who shot to the bottom-left corner from the right.

Udanta scored just after the restart from the edge of the box, aiming and finding the bottom-right corner. This time, the Kerala defence just caved in to allow Udanta some free space.

Jackichand on the go

Jackichand Singh made some brilliant runs for Kerala Blasters in the initial stages of the game. But he later pulled up his groin muscle and was substituted by Prashanth K. (Image: ISL Media)

Vineeth up against old team

CK Vineeth of Kerala Blasters was not allowed free space by his old teammates and only managed a couple of shots from the edge of the box against Bengaluru FC. (Image: ISL Media)

Easy day for Sandhu

Kerala Blasters managed no shots on target. Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, the Bengaluru FC goalkeeper, was rarely called into action.

Record numbers

Apart from Thursday, the ISL match between Bengaluru FC and Chennaiyin FC witnessed around 22,000 people.

Swift chase

Udanta Singh, known for his pace, clearly made the difference on the night even though he missed scoring off a free header.

Second time lucky

Miku made amends for an earlier missed chance by converting this.

Super-sub Udanta

Udanta Singh came on in the second half for Bengaluru FC.

The towering Australian midfielder Paartalu was fielded as the central defender owing to the suspensions of regulars John Johnson and Juanan Gonzalez. Rahul Bheke played a right-back and Nishu Kumar completed the three-man backline on the left in a 3-5-2 formation.

The Bengaluru FC front line, comprising Sunil Chhetri and Miku, mostly hoped to connect after making runs between two defenders in the four-man Kerala wall. Blasters, on the other hand, used pace to counter the three-man Bengaluru defence on the evening. Strikers CK Vineeth and Gudjon Baldvinsson and midfielder Jackichand Singh were just those fast runners Blasters employed for the job.

Left winger Jackichand even delightfully controlled a long pass at the edge of the box from the half-line in the 13th minute. He used his pace to surge to the touchline and crossed to the middle but Ongnam Milan Singh could not even make contact with the ball and wasted the opportunity. Jackichand later pulled a muscle and was replaced by Prashanth K. The visitors' tempo dropped after the substitution.

Bengaluru FC had their share of chances in the first half. Sunil Chhetri had a go with his left foot in the 11th minute, which missed the post by a whisker.

Miku again came up with a deft back-heel in the 17th minute to set up a shot for Chhetri, who hit wide. Seconds later, Chhetri returned the favour, but Kerala defender Wes Brown intercepted just in time.

BFC were almost rewarded for their persistence in added time when Chhetri sent Nishu Kumar through with only the goalkeeper to beat but Blasters' custodian Paul Stephen was right at Nishu's feet to save the ball.

That man Sandesh Jhingan, who was guilty of conceding a hand-ball penalty in the reverse fixture, played the game of his life. He was everything that James wanted him to be - the physical defender to run over his opponents, the fastest to get back or even the one to play out a long clearance. He kept Miku at bay at the start of the second half and prevented his former team from making this match theirs.

Winger Udanta Singh came on for Boithang Haokip in the 57th minute to give Bengaluru FC that extra edge up front. Nishu Kumar also made way for striker Daniel Segovia as BFC tweaked their formation. The two subs had a say in each of BFC's goals.

Miku took advantage of a throw-in to power into the Kerala box in the 88th minute, but he went for glory instead of passing to substitute Alwyn George and missed out completely.

It was then that Miku gave BFC the lead from the same spot. After the restart, Udanta juggled at the edge of the box and unleashed one into the bottom-right.
With no time left, Manjappada and Blasters, who were only playing pride, had to bear the rest of the banter for the evening - "You spam, we write history."