Bengaluru FC got their 2024-25 Indian Super League campaign off to a winning start, defeating East Bengal 1-0 at the Kanteerava. The only goal of the game came via youngster Vinith Venkatesh, and the hosts held on to his first-half strike to earn all three points, with East Bengal finishing the game with 10 men on the pitch after Chungnunga Lal's late red card.
In front of a vociferous crowd at the Kanteerava, both managers sprung surprises with their lineups - Gerard Zaragoza opting to keep Jorge Pereyra Diaz on the bench for BFC, while Carles Cuadrat opted to start without Madih Talal for EBFC.
Bengaluru FC had the early running of the game, but it was East Bengal who forced the first save of the game via Jeakson Singh, who stung Gurpreet Singh Sandhu's palms with a powerful drive from range. Edgar Mendez proved he was likely to be a handful with a rasping drive later, but then displayed his assisting skills with the opening goal of the game. the forward picked up a mis-control from Sunil Chhetri, turned and played a pass to Vinith in space on the right side of the box.
The 19-year-old, who had joined BFC as an eight-year-old and was captain of their title-winning BDFA Super Division League squad last year, took a calm touch with his right foot, before powering in a low, accurate drive into the bottom corner - thus giving the hosts the lead in the 26th minute.
East Bengal came close thereafter, with Sauvik Chakrabarti sending a volley over the bar after Gurpreet spilled a cross into his path.
The second half saw Bengaluru exert plenty of control, with the visitors mired in disciplinary issues as they racked up five yellow cards. Madih Talal and Cleiton Silva's introduction changed the game for Carles Cuadrat's side, with the visitor's far more threatening as the game went on.
East Bengal nearly stole an equaliser in the latter stages of the game, after Cleiton ran onto a flick-on in the box and looked set to volley the ball home, only for teammate David Lalhlansanga to distract him as the Brazilian skied it. With the game ticking over, Chungnunga saw red for a second yellow card, after he brought down Ryan Williams on the counter. BFC then saw out 11 minutes of injury time, celebrating an impressive opening win off the season as the final whistle blew.
(You can relive the action as it happened, below)