ISL 2018-19: “Own goal unfortunate but got winner by pressuring Pune City,” says Bengaluru FC's hero Rahul Bheke
Rahul Bheke looked distraught after realising what he had done. The Bengaluru FC defender stretched out his leg to block a pass by FC Pune City's Marko Stankovic and it took him a couple of seconds to understand that it had gone back into his own net.
His Bengaluru FC teammate and goalkeeper, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, told him it's alright and patted him on the shoulder as the Blues players went back to their positions for the restart.
That own goal haunted Bheke throughout the game but he was determined to overcome it. There was an open header that he missed in the first half of Friday's Indian Super League (ISL) game at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium. But he never gave up nor did his team.
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Then, as fate would have it, just two minutes before the end of the regulation time, Bheke reached out to meet the ball by teammate Harmanjot Khabra. This time, the ball landed at the back of the opposition's net.
He leaped in joy and ran to his teammates to celebrate. BFC had finally got their second goal and then eventually won the match 2-1. Bheke couldn't be happier.
"We started well. We scored an early goal and then unfortunately conceded that (own) goal. But we kept on trying. Later, in the last few minutes of the game, we finally got a goal. I am extremely happy for that," Bheke told Sportskeeda after the game.
"Good thing about the team is that everyone motivated me (despite that own goal). No one put any sort of pressure on me. But I kept the same momentum going and kept playing the way we started the game. We never gave up. We kept pressuring them and got the goal in the end."
Bheke added that he felt emotional after the Bengaluru FC supporters, the West Block Blues, applauded him for scoring the winner. "I am really happy with the fans tonight," Bheke said. "They have come out to watch every game. Whether I score or not, they have always been supporting us. I am happy I am playing in front of them."
With that, Bheke has two goals in the ISL this season. Bheke scored a sensational back-heel goal to help Bengaluru FC beat FC Goa 2-1 at the Fatorda Stadium a couple of weeks ago.
"I am happy for that," Bheke said. "This is my third season with the club and I have scored two this season. I will keep on doing that, helping the team and trying to score goals.
"We have to keep focusing. We have to be humble and not take it easy. We've to win games and keep the momentum going. We've to keep it simple."
Bheke was fielded as a centre-back in this game against FC Pune City but he says that he's quite flexible with any role that coach Carles Cuadrat asks him to play in. "I think I have done that (play as a centre-back) last year. It was the first game I was playing as a centre-back after seven games (in the season).
"It was not new for me because I have been playing in that position in the training sessions as well. The coach told me before during training that I will be playing as a centre-back for the game against FC Pune City because of the injury to Albert Serran. It's not a problem for me," Bheke said.