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Bengaluru FC played their first home game after the Asian Cup International break in the Indian Super League when they hosted Northeast United FC at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bangalore today.
Bengaluru came into the game after facing their first defeat of the season when they lost to Mumbai in Mumbai when playing their first game after the break. Northeast United kept up their brilliant form this season when they defeated last season's champions Chennaiyin FC in their previous match.
It was a game between the second and third-placed teams in the league and both the sides would want to cement their place in the playoffs as soon as possible.
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While Bengaluru FC was looking to get back to winning ways after their first loss, Northeast United wanted to pick up points of the road and keep their record of being the best travelling side intact.
The match started fluidly with both the teams trying to keep the ball and play a possession-based football.
Bengaluru took the lead in the 14th minute through a Mislav Komorski own goal.
Federico Gallego scored the equaliser for Northeast United in the second half before Chencho scored the winning goal for Bengaluru to secure all three points for Bengaluru FC and help them return to winning ways.
The full-time scoreboard read 2-1 in favour of BFC.
On that note let us take a look at the five talking points from today's game.
#5 Carles Cuadrat, Set Pieces and Bengaluru FC the perfect love Triangle
When Albert Rocca was appointed as the Bengaluru FC head coach in 2016, he bought in Carles Cuadrat as his assistant to Bengaluru FC.
Carles Cuadrat during his tenure under Albert Rocca assistant was known for his set-piece routines. Right from their first season in Indian Football in the I-League, it was evident that Bengaluru FC is probably the most dangerous side in the country during set pieces.
It wasn't due to the height advantage that the boys in blue from Bangalore had, but it was the variety that they employed during set pieces.
Be it corners or free kicks Bengaluru almost always managed to surprise the opponents with their variety during set pieces.
This season when Albert Roca left BFC, a lot of people thought about who would take over as the BFC head coach. When Carles Cuadrat was announced as the new head coach, it became clear that BFC would remain to be a dangerous side during set pieces.
Today the first goal that BFC scored was a testament to the fact that Bangalore is the best team in the country during Set pieces. Dimas Delgado played a short pass to Chhetri from a free kick who slipped the ball to Udanta who played it across goal.
Mislav happened to put it into his own net while trying to clear the ball. But the way Khabra, Bheke and Udanta made runs in different directions while the kick was taken caught Northeast by surprise and that lead to the goal. The second goal that BFC scored was also from a long throw another set piece situation.
#4 Is Gallego the best midfielder in the league this season?
Gallego has four goals and five assists in the Indian Super League this season. His stats make him one of the best players this season as he has one of the highest numbers of assists and goals.
While NorthEast's unexpected rise this season has often been credited to Ogbeche's fine form, it wouldn't have been possible without the support he received from Gallego. Apart from his goals and assists, it has been the way, Gallego has played this season. He has been the focal point of everything Northeast has created, and everything goes through Gallego from midfield.
His ability to draw a couple of defenders away from their positions and create free spaces for the likes of Ogbeche, Redeem and Rowllin to run into has been used brilliantly by Northeast United this season.
Gallego was the leading man who kept the Bengaluru players on their toes tonight. Gallego scored the equalising goal for Northeast tonight and created numerous opportunities for the likes of Ogbeche, Triadis and Masica. Everyone has also praised his defensive work rate.
Overall there have been very few players this season who has had an impact on the league like Gallego, and it can be mentioned that Gallego has been the best midfielder this season according to many football pundits.
#3 Lots of build-up, and no impact; Story of Northeast United FC tonight
The full-time score read 2-1 in favour of Bengaluru FC and to be honest; the scoreline doesn't reflect the way the game was played. The match stats tell a different tale in comparison to the scoreline.
NorthEast United had 53% possession of the ball, had 22 shots in total, 11 on target, 14 corners, but only one goal.
NorthEast United created numerous goal openings but had it not been for the heroics of Gurpreet Singh and the BFC defence then it would have been an entirely different tale.
NorthEast United showed everyone what they are capable of producing and had their strikers not missed sitters throughout the 90 minutes they could have embarrassed Bengaluru FC in their own home ground, but alas that was not to be.
In all reality, NorthEast United FC deserved a point from the game but their miserable form in front of goal today deprived the team of a point at least.
#2 Chencho the go-to man for BFC against Northeast, Gurpreet saves the day
The last time both these sides met each other was just before Christmas 2018 in Guwahati. That day too NorthEast had the edge over Bengaluru and scored to take the lead, but then the man from Bhutan, Chencho, came on to score in the dying embers of the game to give Bengaluru a much-needed point from the tie.
The goal also helped Bengaluru FC keep their unbeaten streak intact at that point of time.
Today also the Bhutanese Ronaldo, as his fans call him, was bought into the game in the second half and just like last time he had an impact on the play.
Juanan flicked the ball from a Rahul Bheke long throw, and Chencho found himself in the clear to tap the ball in from Juanan's flick to score the winning goal of the game.
With rumours of Chencho being offloaded to an I-League team on loan for the rest of season doing the rounds, Chencho just made his case to stay put in BFC more stronger after scoring against Northeast United.
The main hero for BFC wasn't wearing Blue though as he was wearing bright yellow and stood as the guardian of the BFC goal.
With ten saves to his name tonight Gurpreet was rightly awarded as the man of the match. He did a tremendous job to keep the league's top goal scorer Ogbeche at bay.
His save during the one on one situation with Northeast new signing Triadis was the turning point of the game as Northeast was piling on the pressure at that instant.
With keepers like Amrinder and Subrata Paul putting up a challenge to claim the best keeper in the country title, Gurpreet just showed the nation why the majority of football critics still think of him as the nations best-shot stopper.
#1 Bengaluru yet to find form after the international break
One shot on target but two goals scored sounds an anomaly right. But, well that is what happened with Bengaluru FC tonight. They had only one shot on target but scored twice to win the game against Northeast United FC.
The first goal was an own goal by Mislav Komorski but was a very well worked set-piece routine from Bengaluru FC.
The second goal came from another set piece situation when Rahul Bheke put in a long throw-in which was eventually put in by Chencho after Juanan had flicked it towards the Bhutanese forward.
Apart from these two goals and one missed chance from Chhetri, Bengaluru had no attacking threat during the game which can be talked about. They didn't test the Northeast Keeper, and Rehenesh didn't have to make a save during the game.
The fans will be happy to see their team come back to winning ways, but the display of football from Bengaluru FC was abysmal today.
Northeast United completely controlled the game and didn't let BFC create many scoring chances. A lot of BFC players look out of sync during open play and the only threat BFC could come up with was during set plays.
Bengaluru have become synonymous with beautiful football in the last two years, but in the previous two games after the international break, BFC hasn't been at their best.
Sunil Chhetri has seen a slight dip in form in the last two games, and the likes of Dimas Delgado and Eric Paartalu have had poor games in these two games.
It just looks like the break has hampered the coordination that Bengaluru had in the initial stages of the season.
The BFC faithful will be hoping that the men in blue from Bangalore get in sync fast and find their form as the business end of the league is just around the corner.
ALSO SEE: ISL Schedule | ISL Results | ISL Points Table
