I-League: Bengaluru FC notch-up impressive 3-1 win over Dempo SC

There seems to be no stopping the Bengaluru FC juggernaut. Five rounds is a fair period to assess the performances of Ashley Westwood’s blue army and what they are dishing out. A Sean Rooney double after a rasping strike by Siam Hanghal saw Bengaluru FC beat Dempo 3-1 at the Bangalore Football Stadium – a result that sent them to the top of the I-League table on Wednesday afternoon.

The light drizzle and overcast conditions had only just started making way for the sun when Bengaluru FC put the gloom back in the Dempo SC camp with a devastating early five-minute spell that saw Siam Hanghal and Sean Rooney scoring in the 6th and the 11th minutes. An attack saw the ball come off a Dempo defender only to fall to a waiting Hanghal outside the box. The man-of-the-match thundered home a brilliant strike on the volley and followed it up with a hysteric celebration.

Dempo hadn’t yet recovered from what hit them when Rooney made it 2-0. The Australian striker – who is now averaging a goal a game – made the most of a save from the Dempo keeper Subhashis that landed at his feet. Rooney struck firmly to send the 6,500 crowd into raptures. Darren Caldeira then came close to making it 3-0 with a solid strike that the Dempo keeper managed to keep at bay.

Westwood started with Rino Anto in place of Vishal Kumar at the right back position and the boy from Kerala did well along with John Johnson, Curtis Osano and Keegan Pereira to stave off any possible Dempo attack as they took the two goal lead into half-time.

Not satisfied with a two-goal cushion, Bengaluru FC made it 3-0 in the 61st minute when Darren Caldeira sent Rooney clear with a delightful, defence-splitting pass and the Australian slotted home with ease. But Dempo pulled one back just a couple of minutes later when Clifford Miranda floated home a free-kick that Bengaluru keeper Pawan Kumar judged wrongly. But Bengaluru FC made sure Dempo didn’t capitalize on the defensive blip, keeping things tight at the back.

The win took the unbeaten Blues’ tally to 13 points from five games. The team will travel to Kolkata next to play its first away fixture against East Bengal Club on Saturday, October 26 and the result against Dempo is the ideal injection needed for what promises to be a stern test at the Kalyani Municipal Stadium.