Bhubaneswar, April 1 (IANS) Bengaluru FC (BFC) clinched a hard fought 2-1 win over Gokulam Kerala FC in an exciting, fast paced Super Cup match here on Sunday.
Henry Kisekka (33rd minute) had given Gokulam the lead with a wonderful strike in the first half.
But BFC made a strong comeback to dominate the second half as Nicolas Fedor (69th minute) found the equaliser before Udanta Singh (90+4) scored the winner deep into the second half added time.
It was a saga of two halves as Gokulam, who finished seventh in this season's I-League, outshone the Indian Super League (ISL) runners-up in the first half.
They were fast and incisive in attack while the defence did well to shut out most of the BFC attacks.
Although BFC skipper Sunil Chettri managed to beat the Gokulam defence on a couple of occasions, an excellent tackle by defender Emmanuel Chigozie and a superb save by goalkeeper Nikhil Barnard kept the I-League outfit's citadel intact.
Gokulam took a well deserved lead when a fantastic build-up culminated in a well directed through to Henry Kisekka.
The Ugandan striker controlled the ball well before producing an excellent finish to beat BFC custodian Gurpreet Singh in a one-on-one situation.
The second half however, was a different story altogether as a determined BFC dominated proceedings from start to finish.
Gokulam were forced on to the backfoot and kept the repeated BFC attacks at bay with some desperate defending and a few superb saves by Barnard.
However, BFC's sustained pressure finally bore result off a counter-attack when Udanta Singh's scorching pace down the right flank and subsequent cutback to an unmarked Fedor beat a couple of Gokulam defenders.
With the Gokulam defence woefully out of position, Fedor had all the time and space in the world to place the ball past Barnard.
BFC continued to attack relentlessly but the tough Gokulam defence held firm.
But Udanta finally broke their brave resistance in virtually the last minute of injury time when he found the target off a square pass by Fedor.
