Grayson’s Men Hold FC Goa To 0-0 Draw, End Visitors’ Perfect Record

Bengaluru: Bengaluru FC and FC Goa played out a goalless draw in an Indian Super League encounter at the Kanteerava Stadium, in Bengaluru, on Wednesday. Goa, who came into the game off the back of three wins on the bounce, dropped points for the first time this term, while the Blues kept their first clean-sheet of the campaign in what was an end-to-end game of football.

Earlier, Simon Grayson handed summer signings Halicharan Narzary and Rohit Danu their first starts, as midfielder Keziah Veendorp and Aleksandar Jovanovic returned to the fray. Also back in action were Naorem Roshan Singh and Suresh Wangjam, with the duo having completed their one-match suspensions. Manolo Marquez, meanwhile, made just one change to the side that beat East Bengal FC with the injured Brandon Fernandes replaced by Rowllin Borges.

Both sides attacked the flanks in the early exchanges, with Jay Gupta manning the left for FC Goa while debutants Danu and Halicharan looked to make the most of the other side. Bengaluru came close to scoring twice in the opening half, on both occasions through midfielder Javi Hernandez. The Spaniard managed to get a shot on target on his first attempt, which was saved by Arshdeep Singh in the Goa goal. Later, played through by Roshan, the 34-year-old managed to control the ball but was shrugged off by Seriton Fernandes.

Borges’ half-volley, which was parried away by Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, was Goa’s best effort of the first period, as both sides made their way down the tunnel with the scores unchanged. 

Into the second period, Grayson’s men started the stronger of the two sides with shots from Rohit Danu and Namgyal Bhutia saved in the opening five minutes. At the other end, Rowllin squandered a chance to put Goa in the lead, skewing his shot wide of the frame from a tight angle.

The Blues made changes in the final 20 minutes, with Jovanovic and Narzary withdrawn for Ryan Williams and Shankar Sampingiraj. With ten minutes left to spare, two more reinforcements were called for as Curtis Main and Sivasakthi Narayanan entered the fray, replacing Danu and Hernandez.

Bengaluru’s final effort of the game came from a set-piece when Roshan swung in a corner for Sivasakthi to attack, but Arshdeep Singh came off his line to collect.

The Blues travel to Bhubaneshwar next, where they take on Odisha FC at the Kalinga Stadium, on October 31st.