BENGALURU: Bengaluru FC, despite not playing at their best, had defeated Chennaiyin FC in the first game. On Sunday, against Jamshedpur FC, they had the chance to prove that it wasn’t a lucky escape. But Carles Cuadrat’s boys failed to make it count despite leading twice in the game. A last-minute Sergio Cindoncha goal meant Bengaluru had to share points with Jamshedpur at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium here after the sides were locked in a 2-2 scoreline.
Bengaluru’s unchanged squad played much better than it did in the first match. However, the first half offered little to the spectators as both defences stood tall. The hosts had a go in the 13th minute. Miku, following a throw-in, won the ball and sent a fantastic through-ball for Udanta Singh. The youngster left his marker behind but his pass found no takers in the box as Tiri cleared it out for a corner.
Just when it seemed both sides would head into the break without finding the net, Bengaluru finally scored in the 44th minute. Xisco sent in a lofted freekick into the Jamshedpur box. Tiri cleared the ball away but it fell to Nishu Kumar, who got the better of Jamshedpur’s Jerry Mawhmingthanga and fired a lovely volley in.
Jamshedpur, despite enjoying more of the possession, couldn’t create a clear-cut chance in the first half. It was not different either in the second. The visitors played a lot of short passes in midfield but failed to breach a solid BFC defence.
Their star man Tim Cahill, who made his ISL debut on Sunday, was left alone up front for most of the 71 minutes he played. Bengaluru, on the other hand, had already changed their style of retaining possession and remained patient, going on the counter and using open spaces. The hosts, however, toiled hard to find their second even though creating a number of chances and dominating proceedings.
Jamshedpur had other ideas, though. Following another midfield battle, Mario Arques sent a fine through-ball to substitute Gaurav Mukhi, who beat the offside trap to net it past BFC keeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu in the 81st minute. At 1-1, Bengaluru were in a desperate need of a goal. And they responded through skipper Sunil Chhetri seven minutes later. Harmanjot Khabra sent a long ball towards him inside the Jamshedpur box. Chhetri received the ball and his deflected header beat Subhasish Roy Chowdhury in the Jamshedpur goal.
But just when it seemed Bengaluru were going to take all three points, Jamshedpur levelled through Sergio Cindoncha in stoppage time. Cidoncha played Arques on the right. The Spaniard played it back to Cindoncha, who calmly slotted it past Gurpreet to get his team a point.
krishnendu@newindianexpress.com