Karan S scored a brace as 10-man Bengaluru FC edged out MEG 2-1 to register their first win of the BDFA Super Division League Championship here on Sunday.
Smarting after a draw and a defeat from their opening two matches, Bengaluru FC, the current I-League champions, made their intentions very clear right from the start at the Bangalore Football Stadium.
On the attack from the word go, they stroked into a 1-0 lead in just four minutes, thanks to a fine strike from Karan S.
Dominating possession, they gave very little away to MEG, who simply appeared off-colour. Karan then put BFC 2-0 ahead in the 23rd minute before the Blues attracted needless pressure upon themselves.
Shankar J earned a direct red card two minutes from the interval for hurling abuses at referee Andrew Shekar after committing an ugly tackle. This gave the Sappers an opening and they capitalised on the extra man, reducing the deficit through Dipen Thapa in the 52nd minute. However, BFC guarded their fort with discipline post that to register a hard-fought victory.
Results: Super Division: Bengaluru FC: 2 (Karan S 4th, 23rd) bt MEG: 1 (Dipen Thapa 52nd).
‘A’ Division: Bangalore Independents: 4 (Karthick 42nd, Adithya 52nd, 70th, 80th) bt Bangalore Kickers: 1 (Raghu 53rd).
‘B’ Division: Minerva: 1 (Kishore 5th) drew with Dharmaraja Union: 1 (Anil 15th);
Jupiter: 3 (Mugilan 19th, Jayaseelan 22nd, Sanath 49th) bt Oriental: 1 (Bharth 58th).
Monday’s fixtures: ‘A’ Division: Tilak Memorial vs Student Union. Super Division: CIL vs Jawahar Union.