ISL 2018-19: Bengaluru FC 2-1 FC Pune City- 5 Talking Points
Bengaluru FC outclassed FC Pune City to pick up a 2-1 win at the Sree Kanteerava stadium in Bengaluru on Friday. Rino Anto and Albert Serran made their way for Erik Paartalu and Dimas Delgado for the home side. Whereas, for the visitors, Martin Diaz, Lalchhuanmawia Fanai, and Marko Stankovic made it to the starting lineup in place of Gurtej Singh, Sahil Panwar, and Ian Hume.
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The home side took the lead at the 11th minute thanks to Udanta Singh's brilliant shot from inside the eighteen-yard box. However, FC Pune City levelled the things up four minutes later after Rahul Bheke slid the ball into his own net after a failed attempt to clear Stankovic's low cross. The scoreline remained the same until the 88th minute when Rahul Bheke made amends for his mistake earlier by connecting Harmanjyot Singh Khabra's cross.
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This win takes Bengaluru FC to the top of the table with 19 points from 7 matches. FC Pune City, on the other hand, remain second from the bottom with five points from nine games.
#5 FC Pune City exploited the wings
The strong partnership between Juanan and Serran in Bengaluru's earlier matches ensured the opponents found it tough to penetrate through the centre. As a result, most of their attacks came through the wings. Despite Serran being out injured, FC Pune City resorted to the same tactic and even got a goal through it.
Marcelinho sent Stankovic through on the right side on the counter who tried to find Robin Singh with his low cross. A failed attempt to clear the ball saw Rahul Bheke slot the ball past Gurpreet to restore the parity for the away side.
This tactic was evident from the opening whistle itself as Ashique Kuruniyan forced the Bengaluru custodian to come out of his line and catch the ball in the opening minute. A neat interplay between Robin Singh, Marcelinho, and Stankovic on their right wing even forced the captain Sunil Chhetri to do defensive duties.