ISL 4: Sunil Chhetri's stunner puts BFC on top

Bengaluru: Bengaluru FC showed the stuff of title contenders by seizing a sole lead atop the ISL table with a 1-0 win over ATK here at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Sunday, after Chennaiyin FC dropped points in a 2-2 draw with Delhi Dynamos earlier in the day.

Hoping to return to winning ways at The Fortress, BFC head coach Albert Roca packed his midfield by opting to play a three-man defence. Erik Paartalu was crucial to the tactic by acting as a pivot between the defence and midfield, whilst creative midfielders Dimas Delgado and Edu Garcia were flanked by wingbacks Harmanjot Khabra and Subhasish Bose.

The fervour behind ATK technical director Ashley Westwood’s return to BFC was not lost upon the match, with both teams having decent spells of possession. Whilst ATK were unable to create any clear-cut chances, the Blues were gunning to find the opener. Garcia’s flighted freekick found an unmarked Juanan, whose header crashed off the far post and into the path of Rahul Bheke. Bheke’s rebound was somehow cleared off the line by ATK’s Shankar Sampingraj.

ATK centre-half Thomas Thorpe was guilty of a stray back pass to Sunil Chettri in the 40th minute. The BFC skipper still had a lot to do from more than 25 yards out but composed himself brilliantly to unleash a ferocious drive that flew past the outstretched palms of Debjit Majumdar and into the left-hand corner. The temperature of the match demanded a goal and Chettri did not disappoint.

Into the second half and BFC were more than happy to play on the counter. 1-0 down, ATK captain Robbie Keane attempted to find parity with a low strike, forcing Gurpreet Singh Sandhu into action for the first time. Keane found service hard to come by in the first half, emerging deeper to aid the play, but found himself in advanced positions after the restart.

Sloppiness with the ball was nearly ATK’s undoing again, as Majumdar sprawled to keep out Miku in the box. There would be more action for the ex-Mohun Bagan custodian as he prompted BFC shouts for a penalty after going through Miku to collect a loose ball ten minutes later; the referee waved play on.

Brauglio Nobreiga came on to BFC’s top scorer with a quarter of an hour to go, and scuppered the chance to double the lead after shaving the far post from an acute angle. In the end, it was back to the drawing board for Teddy Sheringham’s side as a lone Chettri goal was enough to catapult Bengaluru FC atop the standings at the half-way mark of the ISL league stage.