AIFF Media Team

BENGALURU: SC Bengaluru and Namdhari FC played out a goalless draw at the Bangalore Football Stadium in Round 6 of the I-League 2024-25 on December 20, 2024. The shared points left SC Bengaluru rooted to the bottom of the table, while Namdhari, playing their first away match, registered their second successive clean sheet of the season.

Despite the gap between the sides on the I-League table, it was the hosts who were thoroughly dominant right from the start of the game. As a team they had scored more goals than Namdhari, even if they were wildly profligate in front of it here. Their lack of composure in the final third let them down and is not threatening to become a theme for their season. 

In the first half, the best chance fell to Thomyo Shimray in the 11th minute after a horrible error from goalkeeper Jaspreet Singh. The Namdhari shot-stopper spilt a routine cross into the six-yard area, and Shimray, after having done the hard work of jostling for the ball and position, shot high.

Namdhari weren’t entirely outplayed though and as has been their wont, were always threatening with the long ball as well as on the counter. In the 33rd minute, Akashdeep Singh’s header drifted just wide from a corner, when left unmarked, he would have been expected to slot it in. 

The pattern of play remained unchanged in the second half, with SC Bengaluru easily bypassing the Namdhari midfield only to encounter defensive resistance and their own timidity in the final third. Their wingers in particular routinely put in good crosses into the box, but with no one able to convert them into attempts at goal.

Bengaluru’s profligacy gave Namdhari belief in taking the points from the game and they had the best chances to do so in the second period, Manvir Singh forcing two outstanding saves from Bishal Lama to keep parity. The first was a half chance created entirely by the forward who volleyed a shot from a sharp angle inside the box, Lama diving to tip it over. 

The second arrived in injury time, when a free-kick from the left found its way through the entirety of Bengaluru’s defence, to Manvir lurking at the far post. Five yards from goal, he tried to lob the keeper. Lama had made himself big and blocked the attempt away. It was the last real chance to break free and Namdhari had been denied. The teams split the spoils.