Bengaluru: Punjab FC forward Nsungusi Jnr Effiong troubled the Bengaluru FC defenders at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium here on Friday. The home team could not cope with his towering presence and his physicality as the Nigerian netted twice to help Punjab register a 2-0 victory and hand the Blues their first defeat of the season.With BFC poor at the back in the first couple of matches, Punjab came with a clear game plan. They wanted to exploit the space and feed the balls to their Nigerian duo of Effiong and Bede Amarachi Osuji, who outmuscled the BFC defenders. Their ploy bore fruit in the 20th minute when the lanky Effiong rose to meet Manglenthang Kipgen’s cross from the right to score a powerful header.On the other hand, the Blues could not even pose a serious threat going forward, much to the disappointment of the home crowd. Bengaluru, who had zero shots on target in the first half, did not even test Punjab goalkeeper Arshdeep Singh.Even when BFC players had the ball at their feet, they lost possession several times in midfield. One such lapse led to the second goal as Spaniard Daniel Ramirez found Effiong, who unleashed a powerful left-foot drive from the edge of the box in the 32nd minute. BFC almost got lucky when Punjab defender Muhammed Uvais’ headed pass from close range tested Arshdeep, who had to react quickly. After being dominated in the first 45, BFC made three changes as Sunil Chhetri, who started to warm up after the second goal, Sirojiddin and Haobam Meetei came on after half time. However, once again, it was Punjab on the front foot as Osuji’s curler was palmed away by Gurpreet Singh Sandhu.BFC looked a better outfit with Chhetri and Argentina’s Braian Emmanuel Sanchez of Argentina combining well in the final third. But, the quality in front of goal was found wanting. India star Ch-hetri missed a golden chance to cut the deficit with only the goalkeeper to beat. Instead, he missed the target from cl-ose range after Ryan Willi-ams slid an inviting ball from the right to the substitute.Despite an improved second-half show, they did not have anything to show for their efforts as Punjab walked away with their first win of the season. Other result: East Bengal 1 (Lalrindika 40) lost to Jamshedpur FC 2 (Eze 61, Tachikawa 87).
