FC Goa climb to the top of ISL 2023-24 table after hard-fought stalemate against Bengaluru FC
FC Goa's prayers for a fourth straight victory went unanswered as Bengaluru FC held them to a 0-0 draw at the Shree Kanteerava Stadium on Wednesday, October 25.
With both teams lacking control in the final third, the match panned out to be a cagey affair, and ultimately a fair result presented itself.
Having been out of action for three weeks, the Blues showed some rustiness right from the opening exchanges. With both Ryan Williams and Curtis Main benched, Sunil Chhetri was leading the line for Simon Grayson's men.
Goa had complete control of the proceedings and were penetrating into the opposition half with ease. After a bit of sparring, the Gaurs finally had a clear-cut opportunity in the 25th minute when Victor Rodriguez found Carlos Martinez inside the box with a dinked pass from a set-piece situation. The Spanish forward, however, failed to get the better of Gurpreet Singh Sandhu on the near post and the ball rolled out for a corner.
Rodriguez once again stood over the dead-ball situation and unsurprisingly his delivery oozed class as the Spaniard managed to find Carl McHugh, who was unmarked inside the box. But the Irishman managed to plant his header wide despite the lack of pressure.
Bengaluru, slowly, grew into the match but lacked the cutting edge in the final third. Jay Gupta, meanwhile, was on the road to register another of his trademark performances that fans have come to expect from him this season. The full-back tested Gurpreet with a piledriver of shot but the veteran keeper managed to steer the ball clear with a one-handed punch.
Minutes later, Rowlin Borges had another crack on the volley but the outstretched Bengaluru shot-stopper denied the midfielder.
Just before the half-time whistle, the Blues had a chance of their own when Suresh Singh picked out Javi Hernandez with a delightful lobbed through. But Jay was once again up to the task, as he outmuscled the Spaniard and thwarted the threat. Both teams went into break on level terms but Bengaluru and Simon Grayson had plenty to sort out in the 15-minute window.
Bengaluru FC up the ante in the 2nd half against FC Goa but to no avail
Playing at home, Bengaluru FC needed to imbibe a lot more impetus into their play and unsurprisingly, that's the reaction Simon Grayson went with.
In the 51st minute, a hopeful cross from Naorem Roshan Singh found Rohit Danu on the right flank. The winger's initial shot was saved by Arshdeep Singh, while the follow-up effort was blocked by a sliding Sandesh Jhingan. Namgyal Bhutia was the quickest to react outside the box and latched on to the rebound. His vicious volley was however blocked by Odei Onaindia.
But FC Goa weren't going to let go of their superiority on the pitch. Victor Rodriguez once again donned the role of the central creator as he played an inch-perfect ball to set Rowlin through on goal. But one-on-one with the keeper, the veteran midfielder dragged his effort wide and squandered the gilt-edge opportunity.
With the intensity slowly dying down, both teams opted for substitutions. Grayson brought on Shankar Sampingiraj and Ryan Williams to replace Halicharan Narzary and Aleks Jovanovic. Meanwhile, Boris Singh and Ayush Dev Chhetri came in place of Udanta Singh and Rowlin for Manolo Marquez's side.
As the match rolled into the final 10 minutes, cheered on by home fans, Bengaluru had a spring in their step. But their adventures led to a late chance for FC Goa when Jay Gupta put the ball in the box in the 93rd minute. Rodriguez controlled it with great panache, but just as he was about to pull the trigger, Roshan saved BFC's blushes with a crunch tackle.
As the final whistle went off, both teams settled for a point each. The Gaurs climbed to the top of the table with 10 points from four matches but ATK Mohun Bagan, who have a match in hand, will be hunting them down soon. Meanwhile, Bengaluru are groveling in ninth position, with just four points.