Indian Player Ratings: Udanta, Mawia set up opportunistic Bengaluru win at NorthEast
(Courtesy : ISL Media)
The hosts' Indian contingent once again failed to step up on the big occasion and their goalkeeper gifted the opposition the only goal of the game.
Bengaluru FC edged hosts NorthEast United FC 0-1 in a close affair in the Indian Super League at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium on Friday. The game deserved more goals, as both teams were guilty of spurning chances that came their way.
Here’s how the Indian players on both teams rated
NorthEast United
Rehenesh TP- 4.0
It was a costly mistake from the Highlanders' goalkeeper that led to the goal, when his misdirected pass to Jose Goncalves was intercepted in a dangerous area. Other than that he didn’t have much to do.
Nirmal Chettri- 5.5
Found it difficult to cope with the one-touch play of Bengaluru FC down his flank for most of the match. looked very tired tracking back in defence when the Blues attempted to hit on the counter as NEUFC threw men forward in search of an equaliser.
Reagan Singh- 5.5
Was all at sea especially in the first half, as Udanta Singh’s pace and trickery tied knots around him. In the 2nd half, he was a threat going forward as he whipped in a number of dangerous crosses, especially one which found Danilo Lopes without any pressure from nearby defenders, begging to be buried, but the Brazilian made a hash of it
Watch: NorthEast United 0-1 Bengaluru FC highlights
Rowllin Borges- 5.5
The India International failed to impose himself in the midfield battle that was well dominated by his counterparts from Bengaluru FC. Couldn’t quite prevent the Blues from building up play from the middle of the park as his role demanded
Seminlen Doungel- 6.0
Worked hard in his 64 minutes. Used his pace well to get behind the Bengaluru defence a couple of times, but his final ball lacked quality. Also, tried helping out his defence, but couldn’t make much of a difference.
Holicharan Narzary- 5.0
After an impressive last game against Delhi Dynamos, Narzary had an off day as he did almost nothing to trouble the Blues defence. Was guilty of trying to dribble his way out a little too often and most of the time was easily closed down by opposition defenders.
Substitutes
Lalrindika Ralte- 4.5
Brought on to aid NEUFC’s push for an equaliser,Ralte had an almost immediate impact as his first touch was a cross which found Adilson Goiano in the box, which the Brazilian headed over.
Not on long enough to get a rating.
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Bengaluru FC
Lalthuammawia Ralte- 7.5
Coming in for the suspended Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, the Mizo shot-stopper justified his inclusion with a near flawless performance. Ralte displayed impressive distribution and made a couple of important saves, particularly his brilliant fingertip one towards the end of the 1st half, from a low Lopes effort.
Harmanjot Khabra- 6.5
Didn’t do a thing wrong defensively. Had Holicharan Narzary in his pocket. Also made enterprising runs forward and linked up well with Udanta.
Rahul Bheke- 7.5
Had an assured game in central defence and played his part in keeping the NEUFC attack at bay when they piled on the pressure. Despite playing out of his natural right-back position, he looked comfortable and formed a good partnership with John Johnson
Subhasish Bose- 8.0
Making his first start of the league, the 22-year-old had a composed game in the Blues back four, having hardly put a foot wrong in defence. He also constantly bombed up and down the left flank, combining well with Edu Garcia to give Nirmal Chettri a hard time.
Sunil Chhetri- 6.0
Sunil Chhetri shot
The Blues’ captain had the first real chance to open the scoring following a one-on-one situation, but shot straight at Rehenesh, when he should have done better. In the 1st half some of his link-up play with Garcia was excellent, but in the 2nd half he looked more of a peripheral figure, before coming off.
Udanta Singh- 9.0
The Manipuri lad touted as the next big thing in Indian football, gave more weight to these claims with another scintillating display. Udanta proved to be a constant menace to the NEUFC defence, especially Reagan Singh who found the winger’s pace and movement too hot to handle. He dropped deep and linked up with the midfielders to initiate moves, that had the Highlanders in disarray. He reacted quickest to Rehenesh’s loose pass and put it on a plate for Miku to slot home
Substitutes
Lenny Rodrigues- 5.5
[KH_RELATED_NEWS title="Related News"][/KH_RELATED_NEWS]Should have made it 0-2 when Garcia squared the ball to him in the box, but the Goan midfielder badly miscued his shot. Involved in a lot of the Blues' build up play in their attempts to hit the Highlanders on the counter, towards the end of the game.
