Goa: A rebellion SC East Bengal held Bengaluru FC to a 1-1 draw at the Athletic Stadium in Bambolim. Suffering another blow to their hope of securing into the playoffs BFC are now under great pressure as the result extended SCEB’s winless run to nine matches.
The goalkeepers had a tough start as Arindam faced a yellow card, fouling Prince Ibara. On the other side, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu misjudged a free-kick that luckily went unpunished. The 18th minute witnessed some moves as Lalrinliana Hnamte’s kick from the edge of the box was blocked by the Blues.
.@iArindamB is shown a yellow card for an early foul on Ibara! 🟨
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Semboi Haokip broke the deadlock from a free-kick for Roshan Naorem’s shirt pull which awarded a yellow card to the latter. Haokip scored in the 28th minute with a diving header leaving no chance for the keeper. Aiming at the equalizer, Alan Costa headed the free-kick from Cleiton Silva but it went slightly over the bar. Marco Pezzaiuoli’s lads kept pressing for the well-desired equalizer but went into the halftime break trailing by 0-1. The restart welcomed Sunil Chhetri to change the angle of the match.
The sustained pressure by the Blues finally brought them the much-awaited equalizer in the second part of the game. The cross from Roshan met Sourav Das (OG 85′) who slipped a header on the nearer post keeping his goalkeeper to watch. Putting pressure, Ibara remained a constant threat to the Red and Gold as had the chance to give BFC the lead after the hour mark but the header went over the crossbar.
80' TIME CHECK 🕑 | #BFCSCEB @bengalurufc and @sc_eastbengal are desperately looking for the winner as the match enters its ending stages.
BFC 1-1 SCEB#HeroISL #LetsFootball
— Indian Super League (@IndSuperLeague) January 4, 2022
BFC were again denied of the lead at the 71st-minute as Chhetri’s strike from 10-yards outside the box was cleared on the line by Hira Mondal. The Blues put up more pressure as substitute Ankit Mukherjee received a yellow card against a harsh foul on Ashique Kuruniyan. Udanta Singh couldn’t manage to goal as he sliced across the ball but it swerved away from the target. Though five minutes were added neither side was able to find the winning goal as they settled sharing a point each.
