PANJIM (Goa): Sunil Chhetri and Cleiton Silva scored as Bengaluru FC overcame Odisha FC 2-1 in the Indian Super League match here on Thursday.
The former champions jumped to third place.
Bengaluru went ahead in the first half when skipper Chhetri rose to head home for a second consecutive game, before Steven Taylor brought Odisha back on level terms with a goal in the 71st minute.
Silva scored his third goal of the campaign to give Bengaluru full points.
Both Carles Cuadrat and Stuart Baxter named an unchanged eleven for the game, with Pratik Chaudhari continuing to deputise for Rahul Bheke, whom the Blues’ boss had mentioned was being rested as a precautionary measure.
The Blues had a host of chances to take the lead in the 21st minute but couldn’t find the finishing touch. Ashique Kuruniyan, twisting and turning his marker, put in a cross that started the pinball in the Odisha box, but that was cleared after multiple BFC players took turns to make the breakthrough.
The skipper eventually broke the deadlock in the 38th minute in what was almost a carbon copy of his goal against Kerala Blasters, with the only difference being Harmanjot Khabra’s cross coming off his left leg this time. Sunil Chhetri outjumped Shubham Sarangi and placed his header beyond Arshdeep Singh’s reach to make it 1-0 to the Blues.
The Blues were forced into an early change in the second half after Jerry Mawihmingthanga’s knee caught Ashique Kuruniyan in the face, with the wing-back needing to be driven to the hospital .
Having to switch things up, Cuadrat made a double change, replacing Fran Gonzaelz with Kristian Opseth, while Udanta Singh came on for Ashique. Gonzalez slotted in at the centre of defence with Juanan, Pratik Chaudhari moved to the right-back position, while Khabra manned the left .
Bengaluru next face ATK Mohun Bagan, in what is an away fixture, at the Fatorda on December 21.
