Bengaluru FC humiliated Mohun Bagan Super Giant in the Indian Super League with a 3-0 win at Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru.
Edgar Mendez, Suresh Wangjam, and Sunil Chhetri were the scorers, leaving Mohun Bagan stunned and without answers. Chhetri also became the highest goal-scorer in ISL history.
Mohun Bagan head coach Jose Molina made two changes from the last match when they defeated NorthEast United 3-2 at home. Anirudh Thapa and Liston Colaco, who started that match, were replaced by Abhishek Suryavanshi and Jason Cummings.
Both sides began with flair. Within the first 10 minutes, there was plenty of action, with shots on target and free-kicks at both ends. Bengaluru goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu nearly made a costly error by passing the ball to an opponent, but fortunately for him, no damage was done.
In the ninth minute, Mendez opened the scoring from a corner, assisted by Nikhil Poojari. Both teams appeared to be settling down after an intense beginning. But then, in the 20th minute, Suresh doubled the Blues’ lead following a beautiful assist from Chhetri.
The defensive line, led by Tom Aldred, was left stunned by the pace and quality of Bengaluru’s attacks. To make things worse, Aldred and Dippendu Biswas collided inside the Bengaluru box a few minutes later, while trying to win a ball floated in by Dimitri Petratos. Both Mohun Bagan defenders required treatment. Aldred needed to be patched up.
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The Mariners looked lost in attack and vulnerable in defence, as Bengaluru continued to apply pressure with dangerous attacks. The first half ended with a 2-0 scoreline.
Mohun Bagan came into this game with a solid record against Bengaluru, particularly at Sree Kanteerava Stadium. Last year in the ISL, the Kolkata giants had thrashed Bengaluru 4-0 at the same venue. In the Durand Cup semi-final in Kolkata a few months ago, Mohun Bagan overturned a 0-2 deficit to beat Bengaluru in the tie-breaker.
The travelling fans were hopeful of a similar turnaround. However, the home side seemed determined to exact revenge. And, Gerard Zaragoza’s men were not ready to repeat the same mistake. Chhetri extended the lead to 3-0 from the penalty spot, capitalising on Dippendu’s error.
With that goal, he became the highest scorer in ISL history (64 goals), overtaking Bartholomew Ogbeche (63) to add another feather in his cap. After that goal, it seemed like the match was done and dusted and Bengaluru scoring more appeared to be just a matter of time. Molina tried to shake things up by bringing on Thapa, Colaco, Suhail Bhat and Jamie Maclaren, but no significant impact was seen.
This win is a historic result for Bengaluru, as they have won their first three matches of an ISL season for the first time. They are on the top of the table with nine points. Mohun Bagan are sixth with four. For them, things must start improving soon. They are set to face Mohammedan Sporting Club and East Bengal FC in their next two fixtures.
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