I-League: Bengaluru FC prevail over Salgaocar
BANGALORE: Three penalties were converted at the Bangalore Football Stadium on Saturday, as Bengaluru FC pulled off a thrilling 2-1 win over Salgaocar SC with an injury time goal, in the 16thround of the Airtel I-League.
With this win the hosts retained their spot at the top of the points table. Bengaluru FC now have 30 points from 15 matches, whereas Salgaocar are on 18 points from 14 encounters.
Just when it looked that the match was heading for a 1-1 draw, Bengaluru FC were awarded a penalty in the injury time of the match, when Robin Singh was brought down inside the box. Robin made no mistake from the spot as he put the ball into the net in the injury time to help his team bag full three points from the match.
Earlier, Benagluru FC took the lead in the 29th minute, after the hosts were awarded with a penalty when Nicolao Colaco handled the ball inside the box while trying to stop a Keegan Pereira cross. Skipper Sunil Chhetri put the ball past a diving Karanjit Singh, who had anticipated rightly, but Chhetri’s shot was too good for him.
The visitors made a comeback in the 84th minute in identical fashion. Clifton Dias’ cross was handled by Siam Hangal inside the box as the referee pointed towards the spot. Gilbert Oliveira converted the penalty to bring back the visitors into the match, but at the end it wasn’t good enough for Salgaocar to even snatch one point from the match.
Bengaluru FC, who had lost their last home encounter against East Bengal Club, last Sunday started the match on a cautious note. It was the visitors who made early inroads into the Bengaluru half, but theur strikers failed to convert the moves into goals.
Despite being a goal down, Salgaocar had a great opportunity in the injury time of the first half, when Darryl Duffy made a solo move, but he failed to control the ball once inside the box.
The second half turned out to be a more physical battle between the two teams. The final ten minutes generated the maximum action as both the teams went all out for the kill, but finally it was the hosts who managed to pull off a fantastic win and ensure they ended 2013 as the top team of the Airtel I-League.
Benagluru’s Thoi Singh was awarded the man of the match award.