A brace from Vikram Partap Singh (42’, 58’) consigned Bengaluru FC to a 2-0 defeat against Mumbai City FC at the Mumbai Football Arena, in Mumbai, on Sunday.
The result meant Gerard Zaragoza’s Blues stayed two points adrift of the final playoff spot, with six games left to play in the League stages.
Earlier, Zaragoza made just one change to the side that played out a 1-1 draw against Jamshedpur FC, as Danish Striker Oliver Drost made his first start for the Blues.
Sivasakthi Narayanan dropped to the bench, while Jessel Carneiro returned to the squad after his absence due to an injury. Petr Kratky made two changes to his side that beat East Bengal 1-0 in their previous tie as Thaer Krouma and Jayesh Rane were replaced by Hmingthanmawia Ralte and Yoell Van Neiff.
Bengaluru started the brighter of the two sides and saw the first chance come its way when Suresh Wangjam found himself through on goal after a miscued clearance from Hmingthanmawia.
Up against Phurba Lachenpa, the BFC midfielder’s shot was packed with pace and power but lacked precision as it struck the crossbar on its way out of play.
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The Blues were forced into making a change past the half-hour mark when Aleksandar Jovanovic, who took a knock to his face earlier in the game, had to be replaced by Slavko Damjanovic.
Bengaluru had another effort to find the lead when Chinglensana Singh’s cross into the box was looped over by skipper Sunil Chhetri, but his header was parried away by Lachenpa.
Kratky’s Islanders broke the deadlock through Vikram, with Lallianzuala Chhangte responding quickly to find the winger unmarked in the box for a finish.
Bengaluru looked to respond quickly but was denied by the woodwork again when Nikhil Poojary, found in space by Harsh Patre at the edge of the box, saw his attempt bounce out of play off the crossbar.
MCFC came close to doubling its lead in first-half extra-time, but Hmingthanmawia’s header was off-target after an inch-perfect free-kick from van Nieff found his teammate unmarked in the area.
Bengaluru was pegged back just 15 minutes into the second period when Alberto Noguera found Guarrotxena in space down the flank. The latter’s cross hung high at the far post and saw an attacking header from Vikram that bounced past a hapless Gurpreet in the Bengaluru goal.
Zaragoza turned to the bench with half an hour to play as Sivasakthi, Lalremtluanga Fanai and Javi Hernandez were summoned to replace Chhetri, Shivaldo Singh and Drost. A further change saw Monirul Molla replace Patre, as Bengaluru looked to add bodies in the final third.
The Blues had a chance to reduce the deficit in the 84th minute when Molla, unmarked in the area, was found by a cross whipped in by Fanai, but the striker’s attempt to divert the ball goalward was unsuccessful.
Bengaluru returns to the Kanteerava Stadium next weekend, as it faces bottom-placed Hyderabad FC on February 24.
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