GUWAHATI: Top flight football was back in Guwahati on Wednesday with Bengaluru FC beating NorthEast United 2-0 at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium. The game meant a resumption of normal service after NorthEast United home match against Chennaiyin FC was cancelled due to protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
Wednesday’s game had initially been scheduled to be held behind closed doors, but league officials after reviewing the security situation, decided to open doors to fans, albeit with an early kick-off. The match started at 6pm instead of the usual 7.30pm kick-off time.
Despite this, only a handful of people turned up as the Indira Gandhi Stadium wore a largely deserted look. A source close to the visiting Bengaluru FC team said that, apart from an armed escort with the team bus, everthing else seemed as usual.
In the match, after an even first-half, Bengaluru pulled ahead when Sunil Chhetri (68’) converted a penalty conceded by the hosts for a handball inside the box. Centre-back Albert Serran (80’) headed in his team’s second to seal full points for Carles Cuadrat’s team as they climbed to the top of the table with 16 points from nine matches. NorthEast are without a win in four matches and find themselves at the sixth spot with 10 points.