Vinith Venkatesh's Solitary Goal On ISL Debut Helps Bengaluru FC Edge Past East Bengal

Bengaluru FC started their Indian Super League campaign with a 1-0 win over East Bengal with 19-year-old Vinith Venkatesh scoring in his debut match on Saturday. Venkatesh's 25th-minute strike was the difference between the two teams. It was a fairytale ISL debut for Bengaluru FC academy graduate Venkatesh. He showed glimpses of his brilliance in the recently concluded Durand Cup and carried that momentum into the new ISL season. It was a cagey start from both sides with plenty of tackles flying in, mostly to disrupt the momentum. Nandha Kumar was guilty of a mis-timed challenge in the third minute when he brought down Suresh Wangjam. The East Bengal FC winger received a yellow card for his reckless tackle. Despite the caution, tackles kept flying as Lalchungnunga and later Hector Yuste also joined Nandha into the referee's book.

The first real opportunity of the game came when Jeakson Singh collected a loose ball outside the penalty area. He launched a thumping effort towards the goal, forcing Gurpreet Singh Sandhu to come up with his best to thwart away the danger.

Six minutes later, Bengaluru FC had an opportunity of their own when Roshan Singh picked Mohammed Rakip's pocket in a dangerous area, starting a counterattack. He squared the ball to Edgar Mendez in space, probably expecting a return pass from the Spaniard. But the experienced striker decided to test Prabhsukhan Gill from long range.

Mendez's eventual effort went skimming over the post.

The Blues finally went ahead courtesy of an excellent move from Mendez, who picked Venkatesh in space on the right. The youngster created space with an exceptional touch before firing the ball into the bottom corner in the 25th minute.

The second half saw more of the same