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In a game of two halves, it was the Shers who roared their way to victory against the Blues in a five-goal thriller, thanks to an injury-time winner from Luka Majcen.
Punjab FC finally managed to break their losing streak (@RGPunjabFC/X)
Luka Majcen came in clutch yet again, as the Slovenian forward netted a last-minute winner to help Punjab FC sink Bengaluru FC 3-2 in a nail-biting thriller in New Delhi on Saturday.
After a sizzling start to the season that fizzled out, Punjab FC were in the midst of stagnation, having notched seven winless games in a row, as they were propped at a disappointing 9th place in the table, well behind playoff contention.
Bengaluru, on the other hand, were poised well within reach of the same, sitting at 5th in the table. But the visitors themselves were caught in a five-game winless streak so far. So, tonight was the perfect opportunity for either team to exorcise their demons and get back to winning ways.
The Shers came out with a renewed hunger, patiently waiting for Bengaluru to slip up and pressing at the opportune moment to keep them on their toes.
Pulga Vidal controlled the movement for the hosts, threading a couple of sublime passes, as PFC continued to pester the Blues, who looked vulnerable on defense from the get-go. In a move to counter that, BFC though slowly trickled into the hosts’ half, with Noguera threading the needle all over the pitch.
For their reward, the Blues were presented with the first real chance of the game: a corner that caught PFC keeper Ravi Kumar off his guard but was eventually cleared after Williams couldn’t find the space to slot the ball into the net in the 20th minute.
This would spark a change in momentum as a rejuvenated BFC almost had their opener in the following minutes again: a pinpoint cross from a freekick that Chhetri would fail to convert in front of goal.
A handful of close calls in the form of headers from Novoselec and Mendez that just missed the target, and questionable fouls (one that would yield a yellow for Vidal) ensued, but neither side could find the breakthrough as the first half came to a goalless end.
Chhetri though found a new lease of life, coming out blazing in the second half with a sublime lay-off pass to Roshan, whose cross into the box was fluffed by Ravi Kumar and Novoselec, leading to Mendez tapping one in with ease in the 49th minute to open BFC’s account.
The Shers though would roar back almost instantly. Pulga Vidal’s nifty thinking would lead to a sumptuous through-ball to Giakoumakis, who took a rough tackle from Blues’ keeper Sandhu to win the hosts a penalty. It was then easy pickings for the shot-taker Suljic, who calmly slotted it right down the middle, to equalise in the 55th minute, as the contest came alive yet again.
Feeling the need to find that extra edge over the Blues, Dilimperis would bring on Nihal Sudeesh, Filip Mrzljak, and Luka Majcen in a move to revitalize the attack.
The trio would deliver, as Nihal’s blistering pace, Mrzljak’s consistent pressing upfront and Majcen’s composure with the ball helped Punjab regain possession and ultimately find their second goal in the 79th minute.
A sublime cross from Vidal from the left flank led to a fluffed clearance from Sandhu, and Croatian Mrzljak thumped it into goal from point-blank range to give the Shers the slender lead.
BFC though refused to crumble, constantly prodding at the Shers’ defense with menacing runs all through the very end: an exercise that would end up with the Blues’ finally finding their answer in the form of a soaring header from Rahul Bheke to equalise in the 92nd minute.
Dilimperis’ front three though would not budge yet as, in one final twist for the night, Luka Majcen would break away to find the back of the net in the 96th minute to seal the nail-biting win for the hosts.
With their win, Punjab finally broke their winless streak, but stayed still in 9th place with 23 points and 2 games in hand.
