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India's talismanic footballer and Bengaluru FC's skipper once again led from the front to blank Indian Air Force 4-0 to script their consecutive victory in the Durand Cup at he Kishore Bharati Krirangan (KBK) on Tuesday (August 23).
Roya Krishna started the firework in the ninth minute which was followed by captain Chhetri's 23rd minute's goal. Faisal Ali and Siva Sakthi then found the back of the net in 71st and 93rd minute respectively to take an unassailable lead to leave Air Force lurching.
The goals came in early for Bengaluru, as Krishna opened the scoring in the ninth minute.
Skipper Chhetri soon doubled the lead as he sneaked one past IAF goalkeeper Shibinraj following a well-directed cross from Prabir Das in the 23rd minute of the game.
The Blues were in total control of the game and led 2-0 at half time courtesy goals from Krishna and Chhetri.
With little pressure from their opponent, it was youngster Faisal Ali's turn to make it 3-0 in the 71st minute, after he received an unerring cross from midfielder Suresh Wangjam.
The goalfest was completed by another youngster Shiva Shakti as he beat the IAF goalie and finished the ball into the net to make it 4-0 in the third minute of the stoppage time.
With this dominating win, Bengaluru topped their Group B table with six points along with Kolkata giants Mohammedan SC, with both the sides having the same goal difference.
Earlier, ISL side Odisha FC continued their winning run at the Durand Cup as they defeated a resilient Kerala Blasters 2-0 in a group D match.
Isaac Vanmalsawma and Saul Pedro scored as Odisha FC picked up their second consecutive win in the tournament. Odisha came into this match after thrashing NorthEast United FC 6-0 in their tournament opener, while Kerala played out a 1-1 draw against Sudeva Delhi in their first game.
The first half of the game saw a rather slow start from both the teams with Kerala defending well and holding their fort, despite Odisha dominating possession.
Odisha could have drawn the first blood in the first half itself as the best chance came to Vanmalsawma, but he shot straight to Blasters keeper Sachin Suresh, who did well to save it.
While Kerala begun the second half on a lively note, Odisha soon took control of the proceedings and created better chances, with their forward line linking up well inside the Blasters' box.
Odisha shot into lead through Vanmalsawma in the 51st minute. The 25-year-old met the ball right about the centre of the box following a pass from second half substitute Diego Mauricio and did the job smoothly.
The first goal led to a flurry of attacks from Odisha and that led to a second goal in the 73rd minute through Pedro, who tapped in from a rebound off his teammate Osama Malik following a corner by Jerry Mawihmingthanga.
The second goal was a nail in the coffin for Kerala as they could not stitch any meaningful attacks, enough to trouble the Odisha defence.
With this win, Odisha moved to the top of their group standing with six points from two games, while Kerala have one point from two matches.
