24-year-old Ashique Kuruniyan scored at both ends of the pitch in Bengaluru FC’s draw against Kerala Blasters. The youngster’s first in the 84th minute rewarded Bengaluru for their dominance while his second, unfortunately at his end, four minutes later, rescued a point for Kerala.
Kerala started the game brightly with Vincy Barretto and Adrian Luna picking up where they left off. Luna attempted to pick out Barretto with a ball over the top of the opposition defence in the ninth minute, but custodian Gurpreet Singh Sandhu read the danger well and got to the ball ahead of the youngster.
At the other end, Harman Khabra kept a close eye on Sunil Chhetri, whom he denied a clear shot on a couple of occasions when he found himself with an inch of space.
Bengaluru’s dominance continued after the half-time break. Cleiton Silva’s shot landed on the wrong side of the post in the 49th minute, while Udanta Singh – with time and space – shot high and wide shortly after.
Despite controlling the proceedings, it took until the 82nd minute for Bengaluru to test Albino Gomes; the Kerala goalkeeper made a superb, point-blank stop from Silva, who fizzed a volley towards goal from the centre of the box. However, Gomes turned from hero to zero just two minutes later when he spilt Ashique’s long-range shot over his goal-line, giving BFC the lead.
Nonetheless, Gomes’ blushes were saved by the goalscorer Ashique himself, who netted a remarkable own goal at the other end of the pitch just minutes later. The youngster callously smashed Marko Leskovic’s cross into the roof of his net while trying to clear his lines, restoring parity in the match.
Despite the late goal, Kerala remain winless in the Indian Super League after three games; the Blasters have drawn two and lost one of their games and are eighth in the table. Bengaluru, meanwhile, are up to third – two points ahead of Kerala.
