ISL 2022-23: Bengaluru FC beat ATK Mohun Bagan 2-1 for fifth straight win

Shibu Preman/Focus Sports/ISL

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Bengaluru FC moved back into sixth place after earning their first ever victory over ATK Mohun Bagan in the Indian Super League (ISL) at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan Stadium on Sunday. The 2-1 win was built on Javi Hernandez's opener in the 77th minute before Roy Krishna added a second in stoppage time. It was the Blues' fifth victory on the trot.

Juan Ferrando was forced to make two changes as the suspended duo of Ashique Kuruniyan and Hugo Boumous was replaced by Liston Colaco and Federico Gallego, while Simon Grayson fielded an unchanged XI.

The hosts dominated possession in the first half and entered the final third on several occasions, but the Bengaluru backline was on hand to thwart their attempts. The first chance for Bengaluru came via Hernandez, whose shot from the edge of the box went just over the crossbar.

Right-back Asish Rai was lively down the right flank with threatening balls in and a couple of shots at goal. In the 20th minute, Rai let one fly from about 30 yards out. His swerving and dipping effort was heading into the bottom corner at the near post before Gurpreet Singh Sandhu went down to palm it behind.

At the other end, Rai almost allowed Bengaluru a goal on the counter. Around the half-hour mark, against the run of play, Rai's slip allowed Krishna to put Sivasakthi Narayanan through on goal. Vishal Kaith came charging towards the edge of the box and stopped the young attacker before he could cause any damage.

Krishna and Sivasakthi linked up again two minutes into the second half when the former's layoff came to the youngster, whose volley was crucially blocked by Subhasish Bose. Another opportunity presented itself to the young striker in the final quarter of the match when Kaith's punched ball came to him, but he skewed his shot wide.

The two teams made moves into each other's areas without too much success, until the 77th minute when the deadlock was finally broken. Roshan Singh lobbed the ball towards the edge of the ATK Mohun Bagan penalty area before Hernandez put his laces through a powerful volley that burst through Kaith's outstretched left hand and into the bottom corner.

Pablo Perez then came on to assist Krishna's goal in the first minute of stoppage time, with Kaith's fumbled attempt to grab a cross opening up a simple tap-in for the striker. Just when the Blues thought the job was done, Dimitri Petratos' shot from outside the box came off Alan Costa and flew past Gurpreet in the 93rd minute. However, there wasn't enough time to cause the visitors any more trouble.

After reinstating themselves in sixth place, Bengaluru will look to carry this momentum into three home games to finish off the league stages, as the Blues take on Kerala Blasters, Mumbai City FC and FC Goa.