ISL: Bengaluru FC storm into top six with 3-1 win against Chennaiyin FC

Bengaluru FC continued its climb up the ISL table with a 3-1 win over Chennaiyin FC at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Saturday. It was the home side’s fourth win on the trot, a streak that has lifted spirits after a forgettable first half of the season.
Whether it will eventually help seal a playoff spot – BFC is currently on 22 points from 16 games – remains to be seen, for all four remaining matches are against sides that are above.
On the day, BFC wasn’t really convincing, but was helped by a horrendous CFC display in the first half hour. Roy Krishna helped the host take the lead in the 15th minute when he released N. Sivasakthi with a splendid long-ball from deep inside his own half and saw the in-form youngster calmly slot it home for his third goal of the campaign. Then, the CFC mid-field duo of Jiteshwor Singh and Julius Duker made terrible mistakes, losing the ball under pressure close to their goal, and were duly picked off by Sivasakthi and Rohit Kumar.
CFC coach Tomas Brdaric rang in the changes during half-time, which included the substitution of captain Anirudh Thapa. The away side seemed transformed, with sub Edwin Vanspaul curling one from the right flank to reduce the deficit.
It could have been a different story if striker Peter Sliskovic and Vanspaul had hit the target from promising positions and Ninthoi Meetei was not thwarted by a fine close-range save from Gurpreet Singh Sandhu.
But BFC held on, managing the game well towards the end to leave CFC in a lowly eighth place (17 points from 15 matches), severely denting the two-time champion’s top-six chances.
ATKMB beat Odisha FC: ATK Mohun Bagan defeated Odisha FC 2-0 in Kolkata on Satruday.
ATKMB regains momentum following losses and draws in their previous two games. The victory gives them renewed hope for the ISL Playoffs.
With this defeat, OFC will drop to the bottom half of the standings. Dimitri Petratos gave ATKMB an early advantage in the match, and the score was tied at the half. In the 80th minute, he added a second goal on an inch-perfect cross from Asish Rai to give his team the victory.