Ratings: Cleiton comes back to haunt Bengaluru FC with a late winner

East Bengal claims a double over the Blues.

Both sets of defences started positively, but the deadlock was broken in the 39th minute. Former Bengaluru forward Cleiton Silva opened the scoring with a calmly slotted penalty after Roshan Singh’s unfortunate handball. Bengaluru FC was the better team in the second half and banked on Javi Hernandez’s equalizer after Roy Krishna’s brilliant turn of pace. 

Late in the second half, both teams went for the kill with some attacking substitutions. The chances kept flowing in a truly breathless end-to-end encounter but the composure in the final third eluded both teams. Cleiton Silva sent the Salt Lake into raptures with a pin-point free-kick in stoppage time that beat Gurpreet full-stretch to hand full points to East Bengal. This is East Bengal's first home win this season.

East Bengal (By Souvari Paul)

Suvam Sen - 7.0

Suvam’s first start of the season went quite well as he made many good saves. Looked confident throughout. Did not have anything to do when East Bengal conceded.

Lalchungnunga - 6.5

Looked confident in an unusual position. Took three free kicks. Made a few good tackles and clearances to keep the scoreline tight.

Ivan Gonzalez - 7.0

Gonzalez had a good game. Took added responsibility to provide solidity to his side’s defence and was largely able to do so. Could have done more in the instant in which Bengaluru scored.

Jordan O’Doherty - 6.5

O’Doherty played well in an unusual position for him. Had 48 touches. Did not require to make any proper defensive move but supported Gonzalez well.

Ankit Mukherjee - 7.5

Got a good chance but his shot went wide. Had 58 touches, the highest for his side. Made a number of tackles, clearances, and interceptions to prevent Bengaluru from scoring more than once.

Jerry Lalrinzuala - 6.5

Looked good in the midfield. Had 49 touches and put in two crosses. Aided defence by making four clearances. 

Alex Lima - 6.5

Created one chance, took one shot, and had 41 touches. Defensively, made three successful tackles. Looked bright in the midfield.

Mobashir Rahman - 7.0

Return to the first XI looked good for Mobashir. Took two shots, and put in a brilliant pass from which East Bengal earned their first penalty. Time and again, aided defence.

VP Suhair - 7.0

Looked lively on the right wing. Took two shots and put in three crosses. Did good work to earn the side’s first penalty.

Cleiton Silva - 8.5

The match-winner for East Bengal. Scored both goals for East Bengal, the second of which came from a brilliant free kick. Looked threatening throughout with good fitness. 

Naorem Mahesh Singh - 6.0

Put in six crosses throughout the game. However, many of the crosses lacked quality. Took a shot but was not able to show good movement playing on the left wing.

Substitutes 

Himanshu Jangra - 5.5

Looked lively after coming on as a sub but was not able to convert his energy into any meaningful contribution. Got a golden opportunity but his shot went wide.  

Eliandro - N/A

Semboi Haokip - N/A

Bengaluru FC (By Sathvik Bharadwaj)

Gurpreet Singh Sandhu - 6

The Bengaluru FC goalkeeper was barely called into action but communicated and collected well. Was a spectator for both set-piece goals. 

Parag Shrivas - 6

Stepped into the high line to prevent East Bengal’s counters, but that did mean him being out of position on a couple of occasions. Again mistimed a header from Javi’s corner. Had a total of 82 touches. 

Alan Costa - 7

Was well-positioned to block and head clear. Good in 1v1 situations with blocks and sliding tackles. Put in 5 tackles and managed 2 successful interceptions. 

Sandesh Jhingan - 7

Swept up expertly and read the game well. Dealt with EBFC’s barrage of crosses. Made 7 clearances.

Namgyal Bhutia - 7

Starred from right wing-back for the second fixture in a row. Managed 3 crosses. 

Roshan Singh - 6

Was unlucky to concede the penalty that resulted in the opener. Could not put in his trademark crosses, were marked by Ankit. Made 3 successful interceptions. Was replaced by Udanta. 

Suresh Wangjam - 6

Made some crucial steals late in the second half, taking severe damage to dispossess Alex Lima. Ended the night with 89% passing accuracy. 

Javi Hernandez - 8

Tried everything he could to bring BFC level through set-pieces and making space for shots and eventually succeeded after tapping in Roy’s cut-back. Created 3 chances. 

Pablo Perez - 8

In his full debut, Pablo was impressed with his technical play. Progressed the ball up the pitch to link up play in attack. Silky passes into the final third

Roy Krishna - 7

Good burst of pace to break clear of Ivan late in the first half but his shot hit the side netting. Was back to his best in the second half, full of running. Teed up Javi with a cut-back. Took a total of 4 shots. 

Sunil Chhetri - 7

The Bengaluru FC talisman was unlucky not to score the opener off a corner. Could not shrug himself clear off Ivan Gonzalez, so sat back to aid the build-up play efficiently. 

Substitutions

Rohit Kumar - 6

Had a couple of pops on goal, thwarted by Suwam. 

Udanta Singh - 7

Alert to Cleiton’s offensive danger. Found space down the right and crossed well too. 

Sivasakthi - 6

Excellent hold-up and pass to Danish. Failed to make decent contact with Udanta’s cross. 

Danish Farooq - 5

Stepped into midfield but should have put more power into his shot. Booked for a late sliding tackle on O’Doherty which resulted in the winner.