JOIN USA ten-man Bengaluru FC suffered their second straight defeat, going down 2-1 to Churchill Brothers in a game that saw tempers flare at Tilak Maidan here on Friday.
Skipper Sunil Chhetri’s opener from the spot was cancelled out by Anthony Wolfe before Chesterpoul Lyngdoh scored a second-half winner to consign Bengaluru to their first-ever defeat in Goa.
After a slow start, the game came to life in the 20th minute when Fulganco Cardozo brought down BFC’s Roby Norales just as the Honduran was about to line up his shot, prompting referee Ranjit Bakshi to point to the spot. Chhetri stepped up and rifled it home to score for the first time since Bengaluru’s AFC Cup semifinal tie against Johor Darul Ta’zim in October 2016.
Bengaluru began finding their feet in attack and could have got a second minutes later when Chhetri skipped past two men and sent in the good cross only for Norales to head wide.
A defensive blunder in the 33rd minute hit Bengaluru hard when Chesterpoul’s seemingly harmless punt from his own half went over John Johnson’s head and met Wolfe’s run. With goalkeeper Amrinder Singh off his line and stranded, the striker got Churchill an equaliser with a simple finish.
The goal seemed to have put a spring in the home side’s stride as they went on to grab the lead in the 53rd minute. Picked out by Wolfe in space, Chesterpoul kept his calm before placing the ball past Amrinder to make it 2-1.
Chasing the game, coach Albert Roca introduced Udanta Singh and Mandar Rao Dessai to infuse some pace on the wings, pulling Norales and Nishu Kumar out in the bargain. The Blues began throwing numbers in attack and kept possession but kept running into a stubborn Churchill side who had ten men in defence.
CK Vineeth had the best of chances in the 73rd minute when he looked to turn in a cross from Mandar. But his take was tipped over brilliantly by Priyant Kumar Singh in goal to deny the Blues.
The Blues were reduced to ten men on 79 minutes as Johnson was given the marching orders following a tackle on Chesterpoul. Tempers flared at the touchline as the Blues looked to chase the game back with the disadvantage, but it wasn’t to be.
The Blues next travel to Jordan, where they will take on Al-Wehdat in the AFC Champions League Qualifier 2, on Tuesday.