BENGALURU, Feb 26: Sporting Club Bengaluru bagged valuable three points beating Shillong Lajong FC 2-0 in the I-League 2024-25 at the Bangalore Football Stadium on Wednesday.
The winners scored once in each half through Clarence Fernandes (24’) and Spanish striker Jordan Lamela (49’).
The result kept them in 10th place but put them six points above their nearest relegation rivals, Aizawl FC. Shillong Lajong, meanwhile, remain stuck in the mid table.
Over the past few weeks SC Bengaluru — buoyed in part by their own successes — seem a rejuvenated side, far different from the one that had lost by five goals in the teams’ first encounter this season. In the early goings of this game, they were thoroughly confident and eager to pass the ball through their opponents, the highest scorers in the league.
If the tactic seemed risky, it was proven to be justified, when Clarence Fernandes rose high to head in a corner in the 24th minute sparking jubilation on the Bengaluru bench. Lajong looked listless through the half and were barely able to conjure anything of note in the final third, even their attempts mostly wayward and from long range. Even after the opener, Bengaluru continued to push the pressure buttons harder and weren’t just better in the defence but in their overall ability to control the game itself. They carried the momentum into the second half and within four minutes of the restart doubled their lead.Having cut through two defenders, Jordan Lamela took the ball on his left to fire a shot from outside the box toward the far corner. The attempt bounced off the upright straight into the path of Henry Kisseka. The Ugandan calmly cut past the sliding defender and laid the ball back to Lamela rushing inside the box. He duly smashed it home.
Two minutes later, Kisseka had a chance of his own, drifting into the box from the left channel, opening his body before curling his shot narrowly wide of the far post. His luck wouldn’t turn, and later, he looked set to score from near the penalty shot, a loose ball in his path only to see it brilliantly parried away by Ranit Sarkar in the Lajong goal. To Shillong Lajong’s credit they never faded away, and constantly posed a threat, even if the actual result was minimal. (Agencies)
