Bengaluru FC’s search for a maiden victory on the road in the 2023-24 Indian Super League campaign continued, as Simon Grayson’s men went down 3-2 to Odisha FC at the Kalinga Stadium, in Bhubaneswar, on Tuesday. Goals from Sunil Chhetri and Ryan Williams had put the Blues 2-0 up in the opening 20 minutes of the game, before strikes from Lalthathanga Khawlhring (23’), Isak Vanlalruatfela (45’) and Amey Ranawade (60’) gave Odisha the lead. The Blues found themselves a man down moments before Odisha’s winner on the night when Naorem Roshan Singh was sent off for a second bookable offence.
Earlier, Blues’ boss Simon Grayson made two changes to the side that faced FC Goa, as Ryan Williams and Harsh Patre were brought into the mix, replacing Javi Hernandez and Rohit Danu. Sergio Lobera made four changes to the Odisha side that suffered defeat in Kochi last week, with former Blues’ striker Roy Krishna in attack while Carlos Delgado, Jerry Mawihmingthanga and Jerry Lalrinzuala were recalled.
The first chance of the evening fell the Blues’ way when Patre’s pressure forced Ahmed Jahouh into a misplaced pass that fell kindly for Sunil Chhetri. The Bengaluru skipper’s effort from distance, however, was easy pickings for Amrinder Singh in the Odisha goal. Bengaluru took the lead shortly after when a quick counter that began with Namgyal Bhutia’s inch perfect pass to Williams on the right flank allowed the winger to find Patre. The midfielder’s effort from distance took a deflection, before finding its way to Chhetri, who made no mistake from 12 yards out, slotting past Amrinder under pressure and without fuss.
Ten minutes on, the Blues found themselves two to the good when Keziah Veendorp lifted the ball over the Odisha backline to find Williams, who raced his way into the box. The Aussie managed to control with an impressive first touch before volleying home past a hapless Amrinder.
Odisha pulled level through strikes from Lalthathanga Khawlhring (23’) and Isak Vanlalruatfela (45’), the first of which was a venomous hit from distance that Gurpreet Singh Sandhu could only manage to get his fingertips to. Then, in the final minute of the first period, Vanlalruatfela managed to poke the ball through Slavko Damjanovic’s legs after a scramble in the Bengaluru box.
Ten minutes into the second half, Bengaluru found themselves a man down when Naorem Roshan Singh was handed his marching orders for a second bookable offence. Grayson made a double change just moments later, bringing on Rohit Kumar and Shankar Sampingiraj to replace Narzary and Patre. The substitutions also saw the Blues revert to a five-man backline, with Williams operating as a full-back and Bhutia switching to the left.
The Juggernauts completed their comeback on the hour mark when Amey Ranawade caught Bhutia unawares, slipping through down the left and slotting past Gurpreet after being found through by Cy Goddard. Grayson rang in another change shortly after, calling upon English striker Curtis Main for centre-back Aleksandar Jovanovic.
Bengaluru continued their push for an equaliser and came close to finding the back of the net through Main, but the Englishman’s effort was parried away by Amrinder in what was the last real chance of the fixture.
Report- Pratyusha Mukherjee
