Bengaluru FC faced their first defeat of the Indian Super League 2024-25 season on November 2, Saturday, at the hands of FC Goa in Fatorda Stadium. The Gaurs snapped their winless home streak with a commanding 3-0 victory. (Match Highlights)
The match witnessed three goals, all scored by the hosts: Armando Sadiku, Brison Fernandes, and Dejan Drazic.
It was a slow game at Fatorda initially, with Gaur's fans resigned to another winless night until half-time and until the 63rd minute. Then, everything changed. Bengaluru goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu began making critical mistakes, and it was Armando Sadiku who capitalized it first, breaking the deadlock with a goal assisted by Mohammed Yasir.
Manolo Marquez’s strategy paid off when he substituted Brison for M. Yasir after the first score, especially in the 71st minute when Albanian set the second goal. He stole the ball from, Gurpreet and then passed it to Brison, who fired a long-range shot from the right, sending the ball past Rahul Bheke and the Bengaluru keeper, giving the Gaurs a 2-0 lead.
Then, in the 79th minute, the cherry on top arrived for Goa's double delight. Marquez made another substitution, bringing Iker Guarrotxena on for Armando Sadiku. The Spaniard assisted the goal for Dejan Drazic, who found the net in stoppage time, sealing FC Goa's second win of the season with a 3-0 scoreline.
While Armando Sadiku, M. Yasir, Brison, Iker Guarrotxena, and Dejan Drazic all had stellar performances, it was also head coach Manolo Marquez's lucky charm that kept him unbeaten against the Blues.
Manolo Marquez holds a record of never losing to the Blues in his eight, now nine face offs -- one year unbeaten in Manolo's era against Bengaluru and he maintains it yet.
During the match, FC Goa boasted 51% possession of the ball and made 19 shots with 5 on target, compared to Bengaluru's eight and one target.
For Sunil Chhetri's team, it was just not their day. They suffered their first loss of the ISL 2024-25 season, but it didn’t affect their position at the top. With 16 points from seven games, the Blues still lead the table, three points ahead of Mohun Bagan. Meanwhile, Goa climbed to 5th place with nine points from seven matches.
In their next fixture, FC Goa will host Punjab FC on November 6, while Bengaluru FC will face NorthEast United at home on November 8.
