Bengaluru FC sealed their place at the top of the Indian Super League table when they defeated Goa 3-0 at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Thursday.
Nishu Kumar was sent off after receiving a second yellow late in the first half, but three goals in the second period stunned the Gaurs in the top-of-the-table clash at the home of the Blues.
Carles Cuadrat saw his side play without Sunil Chhetri and Erik Paartalu as Luisma Vila and Harmanjot Khabra played alongside Dimas Delgado in the middle. Xisco partnered Udanta Singh and Miku up front.
Goa played the same team that defeated ATK 3-0 last time around and came into the game on the back of five consecutive clean sheets. Ahmed Jahouh almost opened the scoring for the visitors as the Moroccan’s shot hit the post after four minutes.
Xisco had the best chance of the first half for the Blues as he could not finish Udanta’s cut-back. Nishu, who had received a yellow early on in the half, was sent off for showing dissent towards referee Pranjal Banerjee after the latter whistled for a foul on Jackichand Singh.
Juanan Gonzalez then hammered home after Xisco’s ball fell to him in the box. The Spanish centre-back emphatically lashed it into the goal. Bengaluru doubled their lead eight minutes later as Dimas delightfully picked up Udanta’s run behind the defence as he thumped the ball past Naveen Kumar.
Miku then sealed the points as he received the ball 30 yards out, rolled it past Lenny Rodrigues and struck one into the top corner. Goa and Coro were kept quiet all night as Brandon Fernandes came close, striking the post in the second half.
With this win, Bengaluru have 34 points to their name, three more than Goa who have played the same number of games as the Blues. With only a game left to play each, Bengaluru’s two wins over Goa will ensure that they will finish top of the ISL league table for the second year running.