Bengaluru FC was nearly pushed to the bottom as FC Goa defeated the Blues for the third time in a row, winning 2-1 in a 2021-22 Indian Super League match at the Athletic Stadium in Bambolim. This was a second consecutive win for the Gaurs in a two red card and eight yellow card game.
Ashique Kuruniyan (16′ OG) scored his second own goal of the season, giving the Gaurs an early lead before Cleiton Silva (45′) fed them back with a superb free kick. Devendra Murgaonkar (70′) helped his team regain the lead and scored the winner after falling to 10 men.
Jorge Ortiz started the match on a bright note, which was the source of several attacking opportunities. He appeared on the scoresheet in the 16th minute, but the goal was credited to Ashique Kuruniyan, who scored the last goal on a rebound. Glan Martins was the first player to go into the referee’s book when he was shown a yellow card early in the game.
Sunil Chhetri’s sad start to the season continued as he missed an open goal from 12 yards in his 100th appearance. Roshan Naorem then picked up a yellow after the drink break. Gurpreet Singh Sandhu screwed up an easy backpass a few minutes later, but managed to clear it to avoid an embarrassing goal. Against the course of the game, just before half-time, Cleiton Silva scored the equalizing goal with a curling free kick from the left wing.
Substitutes Prince Ibarra and Parag Shrivas were sent off at halftime by Marco Pezzaiuoli to impress. Denmark’s Farooq was shown a yellow card for a late challenge on Dheeraj Singh. 55 minutes in, goalscorer Ortiz was shown a red card for pushing Suresh Singh Wangjam after going into a challenge from behind. The BFC midfielder was also shown a yellow card along with Ibarra for reacting aggressively.
With 20 minutes left to play, Devendra Murgaonkar scored from close range, assisted by a header from Ivan Gonzalez after being left alone in the penalty area. Bruno Ramires and Parag were also shown yellow cards for poor challenges later in the match before Suresh Singh was shown his second yellow and sent off in the 84th minute.
Juan Ferrando’s men managed to hold onto the lead after the fourth official indicated six minutes of extra time. As for the Blues, the fourth loss in six games puts even more pressure on the team to perform better in the coming games.
Bengaluru FC awaits the challenge of ATK Mohun Bagan on Thursday, the outfit that is also winless in their last three games. While FC Goa will close the horns with Hyderabad FC in a week on Saturday.
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