(Football news) Bengaluru FC were forced to share the spoils against a resilient SC East Bengal after a 1-1 draw at the Athletic Stadium in Bambolim on Tuesday. With this result, SCEB extended their winless run to nine matches while Bengaluru FC’s playoff hopes were dealt with a major blow. SC East Bengal’s Semboi Haokip opened the scoring with a diving header in the 28th minute but an own goal by Sourav Das in the 55th minute handed Bengaluru FC an equalizer.
Early in the match, SC East Bengal’s goalkeeper Arindam Bhattacharja was shown a yellow card for fouling Prince Ibara. Meanwhile, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu also had a rusty start to the game after misjudging a freekick. Both sides couldn’t create a real opportunity until the 18th minute when Lalrinliana Hnamte’s shot from the edge of the box was stopped by Bengaluru FC’s defense. Roshan Naorem was shown a yellow card for a shirt pull, resulting in a freekick from which Semboi Haokip broke the deadlock in the 28th minute with a diving header.
Bengaluru FC’s centre back Alan Costa nearly equalized a few moments later from Cleiton Silva’s free-kick but the attempt went over the bar. Marco Pezzaiuoli’s Bengaluru FC kept looking for an equalizer but ended up trailing at half-time. When the second half began, Pezzaiuoli brought on Sunil Chhetri which changed the dynamic of the fixture and resulted in an equalizer just 10 minutes later. Roshan’s cross from the right flank was met by Sourav Das who miscued his header which went past his own goalkeeper and into the back of the net.
Ibara could have given Bengaluru FC the advantage at the hour mark but his header went over the crossbar and his side had another opportunity to go ahead in the 71st minute but Chhetri’s attempt from 10 yards was cleared by Hira Mondal. In the later stages of the match, substitute Ankit Mukherjee received a yellow card for fouling Ashique Kuruniyan. Udanta Singh also attempted to score a goal but couldn’t make the right contact as the effort went wide. Neither side eventually managed to break the deadlock and were forced to settle for a point each.
SC East Bengal will next face Mumbai City FC at the Tilak Maidan on Friday, 7th January while Bengaluru FC will also take on the Islanders on Monday, 10th January at the PJN Stadium.
