A brace from Sunil Chhetri powered Bengaluru FC to a 3-0 win over Hyderabad FC in their Indian Super League (ISL) match at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Thursday. The outing was doubly special for Chhetri, as he joined Bartholomew Ogbeche as the joint all-time leading goal-scorer (63 goals) in ISL history.
Chhetri took 157 outings to reach the summit, while Nigerian Ogbeche did it in 98 games.
BFC gained its second win in as many matches, while HFC slipped in its tournament opener.
BFC set the pace in the fifth minute, when Vinith Venkatesh floated in a corner at the far post. Centre-back Rahul Bheke lurked unmarked, and found the net with a clean volley.
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Chhetri, who came on as a substitute in the 55th minute, put the outing to bed by converting a late penalty. Chhetri stepped up to take the spot-kick after Naorem Roshan was brought down in the box. Deep into injury-time, the home faithful came alive again when Chhetri headed in an assist from Edgar Mendez.
Hyderabad, with an all-Indian starting eleven, did manage to challenge BFC by creating plenty of chances. Devendra Murgaonkar could have made it 1-1, but blasted the ball over the bar. Abdul Rabeeh kept the BFC defence guessing with dangerous solo efforts. Former BFC player Lenny Rodrigues and Abhijith Pa made a few good runs, but lacked composure in the final third.
