Nikhil Poojary of Bengaluru FC during the Indian Super League (ISL) 2023-24 football match between Bengaluru FC and Mohun Bagan Super Giants at Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru, on Thursday.
Credit: PTI Photo
Bengaluru: Mohun Bagan Super Giant (MBSG) defeated Bengaluru FC 4-0 in the Indian Super League here on Thursday.
With 45 points from 21 games, the Mariners are trailing the top-placed Mumbai City FC (47) by two points.
The Islanders and the Mariners clash on April 15 at the Salt Lake Stadium, with the former hoping to retain their crown in this exciting last mile finish of the 10th season of the ISL.
With four different scorers in Hector Yuste, Manvir Singh, Anirudh Thapa, and Armando Sadiku, the Mariners broke no sweat in capping off one of their most convincing victories of the campaign so far.
It began with Hector hammering home a rebound in the 17th minute. Having earned a corner, Dimitrios Petratos spotted Hector in a slightly vacant spot near the right post and the latter attempted a shot that deflected back to him after hitting the crossbar. The midfielder held his nerves, making space and netting it in to get a foot ahead in the game.
Defender Anwar Ali nearly undid that 22 minutes later, bringing down Bengaluru FC forward Sunil Chhetri inside the box.
Chhetri stepped up to take the spot-kick, but shot at the crossbar instead.
The Mariners sealed the game in the opening 15 minutes of the second half though, with Manvir playing a major role in that.
Manvir played a pass to Joni Kauko, who waited for his teammate to sprint past him to make a back-heeled pass towards the Indian winger. He received the delivery, unlocked the backline of the Blues and simply slid the ball into the back of the net in the 51st minute.
A fast break three minutes later tripled the lead of the Mariners, with Thapa getting his name on the scoresheet this time around.
Manvir continued teasing the Bengaluru FC defence from one end, as he raced down the left flank and beat his markers for sheer pace before laying up a straightforward assist that Sadiku scored from in the 59th minute of the match.