Bengaluru FC loses after Osong hat-trick powers Nottingham Forest to win in Next Gen Cup

Esapa Osong’s hat-trick powered Nottingham Forest to a 6-1 win against Bengaluru FC in the third place match of Group B.

Representative Image: Bengaluru’s only goal was scored by Kamlesh Palanisamy. | Photo Credit: GETTY IMAGES

Bengaluru FC suffered a 6-1 loss against Nottingham Forest in the third place match of Group B in the Next Generation Cup on Saturday.

A hat-trick by No. 9 Esapa Osong, a brace by Dale Taylor and a goal by Josh Powell steamrolled the Bengaluru colts. The Blues managed to score just one goal courtesy of Kamalesh Palanisamy.

It was a fast start by Nottingham as it took just eight minutes to score the opener. Dale Taylor was in the right place at the right time to tap the ball inside the net from close range.

Before the Blues could recover from the opening strike, Nottingham doubled their misery by scoring its second just four minutes later in the 12th minute. This time, Josh Powell scored from inside the 18-yeard box.

Bengaluru kept its considerably stronger opponent at bay for a long time after conceding its second goal but the defence finally succumbed in the 41st minute. Jack Thompson found Taylor with a defence-splitting clipped pass and the latter got his brace after slotting the ball inside the net past outstretched keeper Dipesh Chauhan to score Nottingham’s third.

The Blues started the second half strongly and they took six minutes to make a mark in the match. In a brilliant attacking move, Kamalesh Palanisamy scored Bengaluru’s first goal.

The move started right from the back as Dipesh fed forward Akashdeep Singh with a lovely ball. Singh found Shighil Nambrath, who spread the ball wide to Sivasakthi Narayanan. Siva passed the ball back to Akashdeep who moves it on to Bekey Oram. Bekey squared the ball to Kamlesh who made no mistake in finding the net.

A chance of a comeback was on but the Blues conceded a penalty in the 69th minute and Esapa Osong converted from the spot to make it 4-1 in Nottingham’s favour.

Osong got his second goal in the 88th minute. In a wonderful solo run where the ball remain glued to his feet, he cut outside to his right foot and curled the ball to the top-right corner past a helpless Dipesh who had no chance. It was poor defending by the Blues in this instance as no one went for the challenge as Osong penetrated his way into the Bengaluru defence.

The action seemed over but Bengaluru conceded another penalty in the dying minutes of added time. Osong stepped up and calmly rolled the ball inside the net after sending Dipesh the wrong way to grab a well-deserved hat-trick.

In the Group A match, Kerala Blasters suffered a 4-1 loss against Crystal Palace on Saturday.