Udanta Singh marked his idol Sunil Chhetri’s 150th appearance for the club with a match-winning strike, as the young Manipuri lad scored Bengaluru FC’s solitary goal against Delhi Dynamos at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Monday.
After surviving an onslaught from Delhi Dynamos, Udanta Singh notched the winner in the 87th minute to win it for the hosts.
Playing their seventh game of the season, Bengaluru FC are now on the top of the Indian Super League table with 19 points, while it seems all but over for Delhi Dynamos as they remain rooted at the bottom after 9 games, yet to register a win this season.
Bengaluru FC started with four foreigners in the absence of the injured Miku and suspended Dimas Delgado. Erik Paartalu recovered in time to be named on the bench.
The first opportunity fell for the home team when Chhetri latched onto a through ball, however Pritam Kotal recovered well to cover him off with the advancing Albino Gomes clearing the ball.
From there on, it was the away side who dominated proceedings.
Gurpreet Sandhu was called into action in the 15th minute when he parried a shot from Adria Carmona after Lallianzuala Chhangte foxed Rino Anto to set up the chance.
In the 27th minute, Nandhakumar went on a great run down the right after some good build-up play. However, Andrija Kaluđerović hit a wild shot with the outside off his boot to spurn a golden chance.
Just after the half-hour mark, Chhangte broke the offside trap and was in a one-on-one situation. However, Gurpreet came off his line and blocked the effort, which was hit straight at him.
Rino Anto once again played Delhi onside and this time the ball fell for Nandhakumar whose shot was deflected for a corner by Juanan.
Nandhakumar was once again through on goal and his left-footed shot was just about kept out by Gurpreet.
At the half-time mark, you wouldn’t have known who the undefeated team was or who the win-less team was. Delhi dominated on every count, but ultimately, it stayed goal-less.
After Delhi had the better of the chances in the first half, Bengaluru fashioned the first chance of the second. Udanta was set free on the right wing and the winger squared the ball for Chhetri inside the box. But the 34-year-old scuffed his attempted shot wide.
Delhi strove hard to take the lead however the lack of cutting edge in the attacking third meant their moves broke down. Bengaluru brought on Erik Paartalu as they searched for some solidity in midfield.
The Blues had a great chance to score in the 70th minute when Udanta took advantage of a confusion in the Delhi defence to play Xisco Hernandez through on goal with a good lob. But the Spaniard’s first-time shot was straight at Albino.
Three minutes later, Delhi’s finishing woes were on show as Kaluderovic headed over from close range after getting on the end of a corner from Rene Mihelic.
With four minutes of regulation time left, Bengaluru found themselves in the lead after a mix-up in the Delhi defence. A loose ball after a Bengaluru move broke down wasn’t cleared properly. It finally fell to Udanta Singh who saw a stinging low shot go in off the post after taking a deflection off Marti Crespi.
The Blues would then see out the game with ease and notched their sixth win in seven games.
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