Bengaluru Beat Blasters 1-0 To Continue Upward Surge

Bengaluru: Bengaluru FC won their sixth game in a row on Saturday at the Kanteerava Stadium, defeating Kerala Blasters 1-0. In a fierce struggle at the Fortress, Roy Krishna's first-half goal was sufficient for the Blues. Bruno Ramires began in place of the suspended Suresh Singh Wangjam earlier, as Blues manager Simon Grayson changed his starting eleven for the first time in six games. In the first 20 minutes of play in front of a large crowd of more than 28,000 spectators, the visitors had the majority of possession and chances while Grayson's team appeared more focused on playing on the counterattack. But despite the flow of play in the game, it was the home team who came close to scoring first.26th second. Sandesh Jhingan attempted to head a cross from a Javi free kick as high as he could, but his effort hit the crossbar, and Roy Krishna's attempt off the rebound was stopped by Victor Mongil for a corner.The opportunity provided the Blues some motivation, and they capitalised when Krishna gave Bengaluru the lead shortly after the halfway point. The Fijian spotted a gap on the right and used power and calmness to first outmuscle Hormipam Ruivah before threading the ball from a tight angle between Prabshukhan Gill and the near post. Once in front, the Blues displayed strong defensive fortitude to hold on to the lead for the remainder of the half as the two teams made their way to the tunnel. The second half was launched by Ivan Vukomanovic's team in a similar manner to the first, with high-up-the-pitch pushing and strong intensity. However, the home team resisted and defend their advantage. Chances were slim to nonexistent on both sides.

Sahal Abdul Samad came near as his left-footed shot deflected off Sandesh Jhingan just slightly before falling into Gurpreet Singh Sandhu's palms. Naorem Roshan Singh displayed his speed to sneak behind the Kerala backline a short while afterwards. The wingback for Bengaluru cut into the penalty area and fired at the near post, but Gill parried the ball away. Alan Costa headed over from a corner kick in the 65th minute. On the field, tempers rose as both teams gave it their best as the game was on the line. The first team to make a substitute in an effort to retake the lead was the Kerala Blasters, with Vukomanovic substituting Bryce Miranda for Rahul KP.Sahal Abdul Samad, Nishu Kumar, and Ivan Kaliuzhnyi were replaced by Danish Farooq, Saurav Mandal, and Apostolos Giannou in the 73rd and 82nd minutes, respectively.In order to inject some speed and play out the final minutes while maintaining their advantage, the Blues made their only substitutions of the game in the 87th minute, switching out Sivasakthi and Bruno Ramires for Udanta Singh and Pablo Perez.With 28 points, Simon Grayson's team has climbed to fifth place in the Hero ISL rankings. They are only three points behind the Blasters, who are now in third place on the standings. On Wednesday, February 15, Bengaluru will take on Mumbai City FC at the Kanteerava Stadium.