MARGAO
India captain Sunil Chhetri scored a brace as Federation Cup winners and former I-League champions Bengaluru FC rallied from behind to hold a 10-man Sporting Clube de Goa to a 2-2 draw in the 11th round of the Hero I-League at Nehru Stadium, Fatorda on Sunday. The Flaming Oranje led 2-1 at the half time.
Sporting Clube showed better coordination and looked more vibrant and pacy of the two sides in the beginning. It was during this period that Flaming Oranje almost broke through the Bengaluru defence. At the other end, Bengaluru FC seemed to have lost their bearings and allowed the Flamaing Oranje to roar. Sporting Clube seemed to get together well, stitching flawless passes with pace and fluency.
Sporting Clube forged ahead in the 18th minute when nippy striker Marcus Mascarenhas intercepted a back pass from rival defender Lalchhuanmawia and raced towards the rival penalty box and forced Bengaluru goalkeeper Lalthuammawia Ralte to clear the ball in haste. The ball however hit the back of Marcus and rolled into the net.
Earlier the visitors citadel came under attack in the eighth minute when striker Marcus' cross saw midfielder Seriton Fernandes hit a rasping shot which forced a goalline save by defender Rino Anto after both the goalkeeper and the defence was caught napping.
Bengaluru FC, who had a chance to go top of the table with a win, then controlled the proceeding and attacked the rival goal with long passes but could not pose much threat as they could not penetrate into the rival goal area with Loveday Okechukwu holding the forte.
The Bengaluru players appeared to have ran out of ideas and Sporting Clube's Mahmoud Al Anna and Glan Martins took full advantage as he ruled the midfield. Sporting Clube kept marching forward and the Bengaluru FC citadel fell for a second time in the 38th minute when Marcus conjured up a fine run and essayed a through pass to Nigerian striker Odafa Okolie who unleashed a snap shot that crashed into the roof of the net.
Down by 0-2, Bengaluru got a lifeline four minutes latter as they earned a penalty after defender Loveday brought down Johnson inside the box and referee Santosh Kumar showed no hesitation in pointing to the dreaded spot. The resultant spot kick was taken by Chhetri, who sent the rival goalkeeper the wrong way to open the visitors' account. Loveday was cautioned with a yellow card for the foul. Sporting Clube then suffered a big jolt at the stroke of the half time when Loveday was shown a second yellow card after he committed a foul on Udanta Singh and was given the marching orders to leave the hosts reduced to 10 men.
The visitors came out from the break with a more positive mindset, playing a high defensive line with their attackers finding good pockets of space. Bengaluru nearly levelled the scores but Korean Kim Song Young's snap shot was handles well by Hero Man of the match, goalkeeper Arindam Bhattacharya.
The visitors' persistence was, however, soon rewarded as Lalchhuanmawia's cross found Chhetri on the left flank and as the home team defenders failed to read the flight of the ball, the international striker outpaced his markers and beat Arindam with a neat finish.
Buoyed by the equaliser, Bengaluru FC upped the ante and nearly found the match winner but central defender John Johnson's stiff shot was well blocked by the Sporting Clube goalkeeper.
While their fans egged them on, Sporting Clube made a double change, bringing in Densil Theobald and Ganesh Thakur in place of Seriton Fernandes and Marcus Mascarenhas. Densil immediately had an impact but his try missed the target narrowly.
The draw put Bengaluru level on top with Mohun Bagan with 22 points but Ashley Westwood's side have an inferior goal difference as compared to the holders. Sporting Clube, who registered their second successive draw, remained in fourth place with 14 points from 11 matches.
Meanwhile a missile was flung at the supervising officials after the the break as they entered the dressing room. The authorities had police personnel stationed at the tunnel to avoid crowd trouble.
