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Bengaluru FC comfortably ousted Jamshedpur FC by 3-0 at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in the Indian Super League (ISL) 2024-25 on Sunday.
The Blues broke their three-game-long winless streak at home to progress to the fourth spot in the standings, with 31 points to their name from 20 matches now, according to a press release from ISL. Albino Gomes was the star of the show in the opening 15 minutes, pulling off two exceptional saves to keep his team from getting off to a jittery start. He also became the goalkeeper to save the most penalties in the ISL (7) after denying Sunil Chhetri from the spot in the 12th minute. Mohammed Salah's long ball to Edgar Mendez met little resistance from the Jamshedpur FC defence, with Pratik Chaudhari being the last man standing between the Bengaluru FC forward and Gomes. Mendez managed to work his way past Chaudhari but his shot was saved admirably well by the visiting goalkeeper on the bottom right corner in the sixth minute. Soon afterwards, Sunil Chhetri stepped up on a spot-kick after Suresh Singh Wangjam earned a foul in the penalty area, but Gomes was quick to anticipate Chhetri's kick directed at the top left corner and made an outstretched dive to keep the effort from hitting the back of the net. Both Chhetri and Mendez made up for their respective earlier missed efforts by functioning seamlessly in tandem in the 43rd minute to break the deadlock. Chhetri made a quick restart after winning a foul on the left wing and caught the Jamshedpur FC defence off-guard with a slick delivery for Mendez, who caressed the ball into the bottom right corner from the centre of the box to get his side the lead. The Blues looked like they had regained their mojo and were flawless in their forward forays post-this move. Twelve minutes into the second half, Alberto Noguera stepped up on a free-kick from distance after Naorem Roshan Singh won a foul on the right flank. Noguera put in a long ball directed for defender Rahul Bheke positioned deep into the Jamshedpur FC box. While Gomes placed him in a spot to thwart Bheke's attempt, the ball failed to take a nick off his head and instead landed in the right side of the net directly to double Bengaluru FC's advantage. The home side was in a relentless pursuit of stepping up the intensity, and it was visible with the expeditiousness with which Chhetri received a pass on the left flank and pulled off a quick footwork to lay a pass for Mendez in the middle of the 18-yard area. Mendez, too, immediately aimed for the top left corner but Gomes gauged and kept that effort at bay in the 59th minute Gomes was, however, unable to stop Bengaluru FC from tripling their lead, though his defender Lazar Cirkovic was at fault for that in the 82nd minute. In an attempt to initiate a build-up, Cirkovic gave in to Noguera's high-press and was dispossessed by the midfielder at the edge of the 18-yard box. Noguera sprinted for a mere moment before hammering the ball into the centre of the net to bag his brace to land an important victory for his team, given the present dynamics of the points table. (ANI)
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