I-League: BFC beats DSK Shivajians 7-0

Sunil Chhetri, who has stood out in an otherwise lacklustre season for the club, put on a show befitting his stature with two goals and four assists as his side registered its biggest-ever victory margin.

Sunil Chhetri celebrates with his teammates after C. K. Vineeth scored the sixth goal for his team against DSK Shivajians.

It was the sort of performance Bengaluru FC had promised all along. On Saturday it finally made good on it with a masterful 7-0 drubbing of DSK Shivajians at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium. Sunil Chhetri, who has stood out in an otherwise lacklustre season for the club, put on a show befitting his stature with two goals and four assists as his side registered its biggest-ever victory margin.

For quarter of an hour, BFC's performance was as disjointed as any this season. It took nearly 20 minutes for the first good interplay between the forwards Len Doungel and Chhetri. For the rest of evening however, it was like none other.

The opener came when Len collected the ball from Chhetri, held off his marker and set his skipper up for a fine low drive from 20 yards out. From there on, in a ten-minute window, BFC scored three more to bury Shivajians.

The visiting side chose to play a high line but with scant communication and little organisation to back it, it played into BFC's hand. The doubling of the lead came on one such occasion.

Eugeneson Lyngdoh, after receiving the ball deep inside his own half, waited for Chhetri to make a lung-bursting end-to-end run. The latter played a neat cut-back off the through ball from Lyngdoh for Alwyn George to slot it home. Lyngdoh then scored the third with a thunderous left-footer from 25 yards out following a great backheel by Chhetri.

Shivajians added to its own misery with some poor defending for the fourth. Chhetri intercepted a free kick in the BFC box and played it to Len. The latter swatted aside the experienced Nirmal Chhetri like a fly to go clear on goal. Then, the goal-keeper's positioning ensured Len couldn't miss.

The second half was more for fun. Alwyn George played an inch-perfect long ball to find Chhetri, who cut inside with a great first touch and finished. The returning C.K. Vineeth, not wanting to be left behind, had his name on the score sheet too before Sandesh Jhingan rounded things off.

The result: Bengaluru FC 7 (Sunil Chhetri 20, 66, Alwyn George 22, Eugeneson Lyngdoh 25, Len Doungel 31, C.K. Vineeth 78, Sandesh Jhingan 90)