Bengaluru FC extended their unbeaten run to another game but have now failed to win successive matches following the 1-1 draw against a 10-man Mumbai City at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Sunday.
In five matches at home this season – and with one more remaining before the extended break – Bengaluru have won three and drawn the other two. They are now unbeaten for 10 games and are on 24 points, still three clear of Mumbai City, who have also played a match more.
Sehnaj Singh was the man sent-off for the visitors for two bookable offences. But by then Modou Sougou had already cancelled Udanta Singh’s 23rd-minute header.
The young winger outjumped Mumbai centre-back Lucian Goian to head home a Rahul Bheke cross and put Bengaluru 1-0 up after Chencho Gyeltshen had missed a sitter from close range. Both these chances came almost 18 minutes apart from each other and that neither team could create any in between showed how sturdy were the defences of both the teams.
But Mumbai equalised just eight minutes after they had conceded the opener. From a well-executed move, Arnold Issoko found Sougou with a cross, which the Senegalese striker planted right through the middle with a diving header leaving goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu wrongfooted.
Mumbai could have scored a second from another such cross from Issoko but unlike Sougou, Rafael Bastos headed straight at Gurpreet failing to make most the inviting cross from the Congolese.
Goalkeeper Amrinder Singh kept Mumbai in the game with some brilliant saves in the second half including a finger-save off Sunil Chhetri in the 48th minute before Sehnaj was asked to march off three minutes later for a rash challenge on Dimas Delgado.
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