Sunil Chhetri, often the savior of Bengaluru FC, missed a penalty in the second half, his side beaten by Odisha FC three goals to one. Javi Hernandez scored a magnificent brace, and Aridai Cabrera scored late to seal the points for Odisha.
Three minutes into their Indian Super League clash against Bengaluru, Odisha took the lead. Bengaluru custodian Gurpreet Singh Sandhu recklessly rushed out of his box to clear a loose ball but made a complete mess of his clearance. The ball, in turn, fell into the path of Javi Hernandez, who lifted it over Sandhu – and an advanced Bengaluru backline – into an empty net.
Sandhu’s opposite number, Kamaljit Singh, was in inspired form – the Odisha goalkeeper made a sharp save from Prince Ibara, parrying his fiercely hit volley behind for a corner in the 19th minute.
Bengaluru equalized from the resulting set-piece, the ball headed in by Alan Costa from close range after some suspect marking inside the box from Odisha.
Javi restored Odisha’s lead in the 51st minute with a sensational free-kick. The Spaniard picked the goalkeeper’s side for his shot, but, hit with enough pace and power, the ball fizzed past Sandhu and into the top corner.
Bengaluru were awarded a penalty a minute past the hour mark. Opposition left-back Hendry Antonay brought Cleiton Silva down with a clumsy challenge, and the referee pointed to the spot immediately. Kamaljit saved the subsequent spot-kick from Chhetri, and although Cleiton converted on the rebound, his goal was chalked off for infringement – the Brazilian, as it turned out, had jumped the gun and entered the box while the spot-kick was still being taken.
As time passed, Bengaluru committed men forward in a desperate search for the equalizer. Odisha exploited one such opportunity in the fourth minute of stoppage time to put the game to bed. Isaac Vanmalsawma picked out Aridai Cabrera with a long ball; the substitute brought the ball under his control, toyed with Pratik Chaudhari before finally scoring past Sandhu.
An opening day win against Northeast United softened the blow of defeat for Bengaluru FC, who will face Kerala Blasters (November 25) in their third game of the season. Meanwhile, with three points on the board, Odisha will go up against East Bengal (November 27).
