Play-by-Play: Decimation at Kanteerava-Robin runs rampage, Bengaluru FC brought down by East Bengal

THE COMEBACK DREAMS of defending champions Bengaluru FC were subjected to a painful setback by league leaders East Bengal who, thanks to a wonder goal from Wedson Anselme and a damning brace by former BFC man Robin Singh, claimed a dominant victory by 1-3 margin.

The first weeks of summer has barely taken hold over the Karnataka capital, but the people of Bengaluru felt the heat of the season at home for the first time starting this afternoon. From about 3 hours before the kick-off, faithfuls of both the clubs started trickling into the stadium premises. Some pushing and shoving ensued between the two groups as they came face to face when the East Bengal team bus rolled in, but thankfully the situaton did not get out of hand. Throughout the game, security personnel and police had small tiffs with a bunch of vocal East Bengal fans at the away block East Lower B, but things did not get too unsavoury there either.

The emphasis on both sides was to capitalize on current form, with a surprising defensive approach from Albert Roca. He went for a 5 men at the back like he did against Johor Darul Tazim away from home. In the goal, Arindam Bhattacharya was given a start. Eugeneson and Alwyn George were benched as the experienced CK Vineeth started instead of Daniel Lalhimpuia. East Bengal, meanwhile, replaced the injured Willis Plaza with Robin Singh and brought back Robert Lalthlamuana into the starting line-up. In his first match at his old home ground as an opponent player, Singh was facing jeers from his former fans from the get go, which he took on his stride.

The game began on a high tempo with a lot of back and forth and Vineeth got a chance to knock in a cheap one when Rehenesh spilled an incoming cross but he missed that; and pretty soon Bukenya took on him and Udanta Singh with a couple of clean and aggressive titles that set the tone of things to come. 

Soon the East Bengal midfield activated. Rowllin Borges had a chance to create some panic in the Blues' box but failed. Wedson took an early shot from distance - perhaps a range finder - that went just wide. Mehtab Hossain slid in and tackled Sunil Chhetri, making it known that just like the last game he was going to be on his case all night.

Just after the 20 minute mark came the sucker punch from the Red and Golds. Wedson Anselme got hold of the ball near the midfield and ran all the way up the right, taking a quick turn towards the BFC box, leaving Juanan behind. As he near the box, he left fly with his left foot. The ball flew ahead through a low aerial path that no defender could block, and it created an awkward curl that left keeper Arindam gobsmacked. 

The high quality, surprising solo effort goal had a deep psychological impact on the defending champs, who immediately seemed to retract into a cocoon of sorts. The defence looked more unstable, the attacks less emphatic. Former East Bengal man Harmanjot Khabra was having a particularly hard time controlling the ball, a couple of times he knocked the ball out of play while running up the left wing. Although East Bengal sort of sat back and was happy to depend on counters, BFC just could not exert the pressure like before. CK Vineeth got a chance after the half hour mark but he shot wide. The visitors would have been 2-0 ahead had Christopher Payne converted a ball from Wedson minutes before half-time thanks to Sandesh Jhingan's clearance blunder, but Juanan saved the home team for the time being.

At the start of second half Albert Roca brought on Daniel Lalhimpuia, an extra attacker, to chase the game. And early in the half Sunil Chhetri fired off a close ranger that missed the post by inches. But that was about it. Soon East Bengal regained their rhythm - more viciously than the first half - and sent tremors through Kanteerava.

It was Robin Singh who pulled down the curtains on his former team. 53 minutes into the game Robert Lalthlamuana sent a peach of a cross to the striker who headed a low one straight past the keeper. Within 5 minutes, Mohammed Rafique made a breakneck run up the right flank and found Christopher Payne. Payne saw Robin Singh running up through the corner of his eye and played it to him, and the Indian international made no mistake. The striker, to his credit, refused to celebrate either of his goals, but that did not sweeten the deal for BFC. Suddenly, at the hour mark, East Bengal were up by 3 goals, and Bengaluru FC were looking at what was arguably turning into their worst home defeat ever.

Now the nerves were getting to the Blues. Sandesh Jhingan made a rough foul on Robin, and Sunil Chhetri got booked for reacting with aggressive frustraton and arguing with the referee after Rafique disrupted his attempt to take a quick free kick.

Daniel missed a good opportunity. Cameron Watson fed Mandar near the edge of the box but the latter blew it wide. Things were all over the place and Bengaluru FC looked like a shadow of their former gritty self. 

But a stunned West Block was given a slight lease of life 84 minutes in when CK Vineeth knocked in a close one thanks to a marking error from East Bengal defenders. BFC tried to press hard for a second after that and almost got it when Rehenesh fumbled a shot from Udanta but a goal line clearance saved the visitors from what could have turned into a tense last few minutes. Early into added time Udanta had a golden opportunity to score from the edge of the box but he completely mis-kicked it. But the visitors held on and ensured a comfortable 1-3 victory for themselves, shooting themselves back to the top of the league table.

After the final whistle, the Bengaluru FC team got involved in a scuffle with Mehtab Hossain and the rest of the East Bengal team; a loss of cool that perfectly symbolized the psychological impact that East Bengal have had on Bengaluru this season; prompting BFC coach Albert Roca to express his apology to the home fans after the match for this dismal performance. 

No BFC coach has had to do this before.

It seems like a lack of form for some of the key players, coupled with a strategy that appears overly conservative for the BFC fans have come to love, is what has derailed the defending champions. With this loss, they are now down to 13 points from 10 matches, and it seems nearly impossible for them to make a comeback in the title race. East Bengal, meanwhile, have regained their usual gusto after the winless streak and have re-established themselves at the top of the table with 24 points from 11 games. And their noble cause of winning the league for the first time in 14 years is very much back on track.

Here's how the match unfolded, narrated through our live text updates...