Bengaluru FC’s joy of snapping a winless run last week was short-lived as it fell back into the rut with a 1-0 defeat at the hands of ATK Mohun Bagan in the Indian Super League (ISL) on Saturday.
Australian Dimitrios Petratos scored the winner in the 66th minute to hand ATK MB its fifth win of the season and keep it fourth in the table. For Simon Grayson’s BFC it was a fifth loss from eight games as it remains rooted to ninth.
Substitute N. Sivasakthi could have snatched a point late on, but his shot from close range after receiving a splendid ball from Javi Hernandez clattered off bar.
The football, for much of the evening, was evenly contested. Sunil Chhetri returned to the starting eleven as a sizeable crowd chose to liven up the Sree Kanteerava Stadium over watching a World Cup knock-out game between the Netherlands and USA on television.
ATK Mohun Bagan FC’s goalkeeper Vishal Kaith in action against Bengaluru FC in the Indian Super League clash between the two sides in Bengaluru on Saturday. | Photo Credit: MURALI KUMAR K
The home side should have taken the lead as early as the fifth minute when a faulty pass from the ATK MB defence gave Hernandez a golden opportunity. But with just the ‘keeper to beat, the Spaniard fluffed the chance.
After the break, BFC displayed some good build-up play but couldn’t find the killer touch in the final third. Juan Ferrando’s men duly capitalised.
Ashique Kuruniyan, formerly of BFC, recovered possession quickly after losing it and initiated the move that resulted in Petratos’ s splendid curved strike into the right corner from just outside the penalty area.
Roy Krishna could have equalised in the 68th minute but shot wide from a promising position.
Result: Bengaluru FC 0 lost to ATK Mohun Bagan 1 (Petratos 66)
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