Bengaluru FC's academy graduate Vinith Venkatesh scored the winner as the Blues picked up their first points of the ISL season with a 1-0 win over East Bengal FC at the Kanteerava Stadium, in Bengaluru, on Saturday.
The 19-year-old, who joined the club as an eight-year-old in 2013, fired a low drive past the reach of East Bengal FC goalkeeper Prabhsukhan Gill to add to his two strikes in the Durand Cup last month.
Earlier, Bengaluru FC Head Coach Gerard Zaragoza rolled out a starting eleven with several ISL debutants, including that of Vinith, who made his home debut after impressing in the Durand Cup. Rahul Bheke and Aleksandar Jovanovic started at the heart of defence while Edgar Mendez and Sunil Chhetri lined up in attack.
East Bengal, meanwhile, started with Dimitrios Diamantakos in attack, while Jeakson Singh made his ISL bow for the Red and Gold brigade.
The game got off to a feisty start with two bookings in the opening ten minutes, as referee Crystal John went to his book and wrote down the names of Nandhakumar Sekar and Jeakson Singh for rash challenges. The first chance of the game fell to the hosts when Jeakson’s hit from distance forced a save from Gurpreet Singh Sandhu.
The Blues had a chance of their own when Mendez’s shot from distance fizzed just wide of Prabhsukhan Gill’s frame. Bengaluru took the lead with 26 minutes on the clock when, after picking a pass from Mendez, Vinith’s low drive beat Prabhsukhan all ends up, and found the bottom corner. The Kanteerava erupted to celebrate the opener, as the boy who joined the Blues as an eight-year-old wheeled away to celebrate in front of his home crowd.
Bengaluru took the lead into the break, and made a change at the half as Vinith was replaced by Sivasakthi Narayanan. Controlling possession and most of the game, Zaragoza’s side continued to make most of the noise, with Naorem Roshan Singh and Nikhil Poojary pushing forward to support the attack. Bengaluru made a triple change just past the hour mark as Chhetri, Mendez and Jovanovic made way for Chinglensana Singh, Jorge Pereyra Diaz and Ryan Williams.
Pereyra Diaz found the back of the net in the 69th minute, but for the referee’s assistant to raise his flag for offside. Bengaluru continued to push forward with the attacking impetus of Ryan Williams and found themselves a man to the good when Lalchungnunga’s late challenge on the Aussie winger earned him a second yellow and an early shower.
Zaragoza replaced midfielder Alberto Noguera with Lalremtluanga Fanai for the final few minutes of regulation time as the Blues closed out the game and claimed their first points of the season.
Farukh Choudhary and Daniel Chima Chukwu found the net as Chennaiyin FC came from a goal down in style to beat Odisha FC 3-2 in their opening match of the Indian Super League 2024-25 at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Saturday.
Owen Coyle’s men thus broke the Juggernauts’ 569-day long unbeaten streak at their home in dominating fashion, courtesy of a brace from Farukh (48’, 51’) and a powerful strike from Chima (69’).
The Marina Machans have been busy in the transfer market, strengthening their squad with 13 new signings. Six of those new names, including the experienced Mandar Rao Desai and the exciting Lalrinliana Hnamte, started the match against Odisha FC.
An electrifying start at the Kalinga saw Samik Mitra thwart the hosts away with an early save. Shortly after, Farukh Choudhary’s appeals for a spot-kick were waved off by the referee, who subsequently pointed to the spot at the other end when Hugo Boumous went down under a soft challenge from Samik. Diego Mauricio scored from the spot to give Odisha the lead.
Chennaiyin, however, responded strongly to going behind. First, Connor Shields saw an effort blocked midway through the half before Farukh shot narrowly wide from close range. Samik prevented Odisha from going 2-0 up with a superb last-ditch save soon after Hnamte rattled the upright with an outstanding free-kick.
The Marina Machans picked up where they had left off immediately after the break and were rewarded for their persistence when Farukh tapped home the equaliser from close range. A bright spark throughout the first half, Farukh was left with the easiest of tasks after Shields burst into the box and laid the ball on a plate for the attacker.
Things got even better for Farukh and Chennaiyin seconds later, when the 27-year-old intercepted a wayward pass from Amrinder, kept his composure, and squeezed the ball in through Ahmed Jahouh’s legs to give his team the lead.
Sixty-nine minutes in, two of Chennaiyin FC’s new signings combined to give fans a moment to remember. Barraging into the box, right-back Laldinliana Renthlei crossed the ball for Chima, who slammed a thunderous volley home on the half-turn, much to the delight of a jubilant Coyle on the sidelines. Roy Krishna pulled one back for Odisha in stoppage time, but Chennaiyin held onto their lea for maximum points.
High on confidence, the Marina Machans will look to extend their good start to the season in their first home game of the season against newly-promoted Mohammedan SC on September 26.
