ISL 2020-21: Jamshedpur beats Bengaluru 3-2, Chhetri scores 100th goal for BFC

ISL 2020-21: Jamshedpur FC earned a hard-fought 3-2 win over Bengaluru FC to end its Indian Super League campaign on the sixth spot.

Published : Feb 25, 2021 22:46 IST

Jamshedpur FC players celebrate Stephen Eze's goal during the 3-2 win over Bengaluru FC on Thursday.

Sunil Chhetri scored his 100th goal for Bengaluru FC (BFC) even as the club ended its Indian Super League (ISL 2020-21)campaign on a disappointing note, crashing to a 3-2 defeat to Jamshedpur FC on Thursday.

Following its eighth loss of the season, BFC finished seventh out of 11 teams with 22 points from 20 games. Jamshedpur, on the other hand, sealed its fourth win in six games to finish the season on the sixth spot.

AS IT HAPPENED|

Stepehen Eze put the Red Miners ahead in the 16th minute when he converted Aitor Monroy's free-kick. Bengaluru, featuring six changes in its starting XI, struggled to contain the Jamshedpur forwards. Seiminlen Doungel exploited the weak back-line to make it 2-0 in the 36th minute.

David Grande found the back of the net seven minutes later, off another Monroy cross, to ensure his side went into the half-time break with a massive three-goal lead.

Jamshedpur FC's David Grande celebrates scoring against Bengaluru FC in their ISL 2020-21 game on Thursday.
 

BFC bounced back in the second half when Fran Gonzalez struck at the hour-mark. Chhetri then scored his side’s second goal with a powerful header but couldn't inspire a comeback. His header was his 100th for the club and took his ISL tally to 47 goals (40 goals for BFC and seven for Mumbai City FC).

Chhetri, who is the highest Indian goal-scorer in the history of ISL, is now only one goal shy of former FC Goa player Ferran Corominas (48) in the overall top-scorers list.

Bengaluru FC's Sunil Chhetri in action during his side's ISL 2020-21 clash against Jamshedpur FC on Thursday.
 

Also on Thursday, Spanish midfielder Dimas Delgado led the team out for what appears to be his last ISL game for the club. Parth Jindal, club director, tweeted a warm goodbye on Twitter but later deleted it.

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In the post-match interaction, interim coach Naushad Moosa said that Delgado “will be with the team” but was not sure if the Spaniard figured in new coach Marco Pezzaiuoli’s plans. BFC will next be in action in the AFC Cup playoff on April 14 and all foreign players except defender Juanan and mid-fielder Erik Paartalu have their existing contracts ending in the summer.

Delgado joined BFC ahead of its first ISL season in 2017 and has four goals and 14 assists to his name across four seasons. This edition, he played in BFC’s first 11 games before leaving for Spain for personal reasons. He returned for the last two matches against Goa and Jamshedpur.

“The reason he left for home is because he lost his dad,” Moosa said. “He had the courage and said he would come back and finish the league. And Sunil thought of giving him the arm band.”