PANJIM: Bengaluru FC suffered a second successive defeat in the Indian Super League after Stephen Eze scored a 79th-minute match-winner for Jamshedpur FC at Fatorda Stadium, on Monday.
Jamshedpur FC were lucky this time as the referee were alert to give Eze his third goal of the campaign after a BFC defender cleared the ball from inside the goal.
There were two changes in the BFC squad as Suresh Wangjam and Kristian Opseth returned to the Bengaluru FC starting XI. For JFC, Owen Coyle preferred to start with Mobashir Rahman over Isaac Vanmalsawma.
It was intriguing first 45 minutes as both teams played end to end football but it was BFC with the first real chance in the game in the third minute but TP Rehenesh pulled off a diving save to deny a Kristian Opseth free-kick.
BFC continued to be on ascendancy and Sunil Chhetri missed twice to get the ball at the back of the net. First his goal-bound shot deflected for a corner then his header sailed over the bar.
At the other end, JFC’s Nerijus Valskis was guilty of squandering a goalscoring chance when Aniket Jadhav drilled a low cross in the middle for an unmarked Lithuanian but he blazed it over the bar.
TP Rehenesh’s brilliance at the half-hour mark kept his team in the game. It was two against one for BFC when Suresh was set on goal by Chhetri. With just the keeper to beat, Suresh laid it for Cleiton Silva, but his weak pass was well intercepted by Rehenesh, who managed to get his glove first before Silva could pounce on the ball. Should Suresh have gone himself; BFC would have been up by a goal.
Harmanjot Khabra had a quiet day for Bengaluru FC who marked his 100th appearance for the club. Meanwhile JFC missed to take the lead had it not been for Peter Hartley delaying his attempt from close which was ultimately blocked by Gurpreet. However, the rebound fell to Eze, this time he was quick, but his goal-bound shot was deflected for a corner after Bheke blocked his attempt.
JFC finally broke the deadlock through Stephen Eze, who scored his third goal of the season. Lima played a weighted pass to Aniket on the right and the latter floated a cross in the box. Eze got past his marker and dived low to score past Gurpreet.
JFC Mohammad Mobashir’s nearly scored a cracker from a distance, but his well-executed shot narrowly missed the frame. With just five minutes left on the clock, TP Rehenesh came with a point-blank save to deny Bheke.
