Indian Player Ratings: Kean Lewis, Sunil Chhetri the stars as Bengaluru defeat ATK

The Blues put up a commendable defensive effort after scoring the only goal of the game in the first half.

Hosts Bengaluru FC continues with their unbeaten streak in the league as they earned another three points against a toothless ATK side with a 1-0 win. With the win, the Blues go six points clear off second-placed Mumbai City FC. On the other hand, Steve Coppell’s side missed the chance to move upwards in the table and will stay at the sixth place below FC Goa who have a couple of games in hand.

Here are the player ratings of the Indian players from the game.

Bengaluru FC

Gurpreet Singh Sandhu- 6.0

Like his counterpart at the other end of the pitch, Gurpreet too had very less to do in the game. His only highlight of the game came in the 48th minute when he punched the ball away from a dangerous ATK corner. The national team goalkeeper showed his class as he made some pretty strong clearances overall in the game.

Rahul Bheke- 6.5

Bheke has recently become a fan-favourite at Bengaluru and he deserves all the praise with the way he is performing. The full-back made six clearances in the game while making three vital interceptions and a couple of blocks. Missing the probable national squad is naturally the unluckiest thing to happen this year to the in-form man.

Kean Lewis- 6.5

Making his first start of the season, Lewis didn’t disappoint his coach as he was very active from the left flank. The former Pune City player deservingly got an assist when Paartalu scored after a wonderful build-up game by the Blues. He also provided five crosses inside overall in the game and posed as a constant threat for the ATK defence throughout the game.

Sunil Chhetri- 6.5

.@chetrisunil11 with an early chance to change the scoreline!Watch it LIVE on @hotstartweets: https://t.co/ZicoamTxSwJioTV users can watch it LIVE on the app. #HeroISL #ISLMoments #LetsFootball #BENKOL #FanBannaPadega pic.twitter.com/NzPvirJTPp

— Indian Super League (@IndSuperLeague) December 13, 2018

Watch: Chhetri's had yet another average night

It was yet another disappointing day for the skipper as he couldn’t get on the scoresheet. Three of his total four shots were off the target. His only highlight of the game came late in the injury time when his effort went inches wide from the goal.

Udanta Singh- 6.0

Udanta was pretty lively in the first half and came very close to scoring in the 73rd minute. The in-form winger couldn’t get on to the scoresheet but contributed well in the attack, which unfortunately wasn’t much threatening.

Nishu Kumar- 6.5

The young full-back started the game well but then suffered from an injury which forced him to come out after just 33 minutes as Rino Anto came in. Hope the injury is not as serious as Nishu is a part of the probables squad of the national team for the upcoming AFC Asian Cup.

Substitutions

Rino Anto-

Came on to replace the injured Nishu but committed a nasty foul on Balwant immediately in the 35th minute. Was lucky the referee didn’t show him a yellow card. However, he too limped off the pitch in the 76th minute as Gursimrat Singh came in.

Gursimrat Singh-

Replaced the injured Rino but had very less to do as the game was put to bed by the Blues by then.

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ATK

Arindam Bhattacharya- 7.0

Arindam wasn’t troubled much in the game as Bengaluru had just one attempt on target. Unfortunately for the 29-year-old, the one attempt on target ended up in the net as that was the lone goal that separated the sides.

Ankit Mukherjee- 6.0

Apart from a poor cross in the 29th minute, Ankit had a decent outing against the Blues. The right back defended well for 90 minutes and performed five good tackles along with three clearances and an equal number of blocks.

Ricky Lallawmawma- 6.5

Ricky was in good form today as he was busy for the majority of the game to keep Udanta Singh away from the danger zone, which he did pretty well. He went on to make five tackles, five clearances and a couple of crucial interceptions overall. Another fair outing by the left back.

Hitesh Sharma- 6.0

Hitesh wasn’t much involved in the game during the opening minutes of the game as he struggled to get the touch of the ball. Though he settled down on the left flank later and did good to keep possession, he disappeared once again after the break. The youngster needs a lot of improvement in the upcoming games if he is to repay the faith that his coach has shown in him.

Jayesh Rane- 6.5

Like Hitesh, Jayesh too wasn’t much involved in the game. Moreover, the 25-year-old just didn’t seem to keep his passes clean having just 48% accuracy. The winger needs to be more consistent with his performances if he is to make it to the national team, as suggested by many.

Balwant Singh- 6.0

WHAT. A. MISS. ????Watch it LIVE on @hotstartweets: https://t.co/ZicoamTxSwJioTV users can watch it LIVE on the app. #HeroISL #ISLMoments #LetsFootball #BENKOL #FanBannaPadega pic.twitter.com/7JNdWaS12T

— Indian Super League (@IndSuperLeague) December 13, 2018

Watch: Balwant had an unlucky night, and was replaced by Komal Thatal in the 71st minute

Probably the unluckiest guy on the night as he just couldn’t get a breakthrough and when he did, he struck the ball wide. The veteran striker struggled hard to penetrate the Blues’ defence but was caught offside one too many times; four to be precise. He should have had scored in the 56th minute from a great lobbed pass by Manuel Lanzarote but just couldn’t find the right touch on the ball. The same thing happened again in the 67th minute as his shot missed the goal by inches. Was eventually replaced by Komal Thatal in the 71st minute.

Substitutions

[KH_RELATED_NEWS title="Related News"][/KH_RELATED_NEWS]

Komal Thatal- N/A

The teenager came on to replace Balwant in the attack and he did make a little impact if not huge as his ambitious strike in the 82nd minute scraped over the bar.