Bengaluru: Goals on either side of the break from Nishu Kumar and substitute Marjan Jugovic saw Bengaluru FC stroll past Abahani Dhaka 2-0 in their AFC Cup Group ‘E’ clash at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium here on Tuesday. With the win, BFC cemented their place at the top of the table with nine points while the Bangladesh side are yet to open their account.
BFC continued to keep faith in the three centre back formation and Carles Cuardet, standing in for the suspended Albert Roca, brought in Lalthuammawia Ralte and Seiminlen Doungel in goal and wing respectively. The home side expectedly dominated the match; winning balls high up the field and swamped the midfield with wingbacks Nishu and Harmanjot Khabra providing the extra legs in the middle.
The first chance fell to the home team in the 12th minute when Nishu took control of a cleared corner kick and sent it straight back in for Juanan to whip a cross in. The Spanish defender produced a peach which was headed over by a diving Doungel. John Johnson was the next to go close when he headed wide from a corner in the very next minute. Doungel went close again, this time missing the cross by inches, before the visitors had their first sniff at goal. Picking up a loose pass from Lenny Rodrigues, Mohammad Ziban did all the hard work to get behind the defence but was found wanting as Ralte came charging out to take control of the situation.
At times, BFC were even guilty of over-playing as they often went for an additional pass while in good positions. The goal duly arrived five minutes before the break when Daniel Lalhlimpuia, after a good build up, played in an overlapping Nishu and the youngster tucked in his strike with a composed finish. There was little difference in the script after the break and the hosts, who should have been out of sight in the first half itself, almost doubled their lead just before the hour mark. Chhetri played Khabra in but the wingback, with all the space and time needed, could only hit straight at the keeper.
Chhetri then had a shot cleared off the line by Mamun Miah, who was run ragged by Nishu on the flanks, in the 69th minute before Eugeneson Lyngdoh rolled his shot agonisingly wide. The second goal came in the 82nd minute when Chhetri played in Lyngdoh, with what was possibly the pass of the match, and the midfielder unselfishly squared for substitute Jugovic.
