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On Saturday, defending champions Bengaluru FC romped to a 7-0 win against a very good DSK Shivajians side, which came to Bengaluru on the back of a 1-0 win away to East Bengal, which was title-defining for the latter. It also helped Bengaluru go top of the charts for goals scored, with East Bengal's 26 one behind Bengaluru with a game in hand. The impact this result goes beyond the scoreline as it showed that BFC on the mend. Chhetri was the star of the show Sunil Chhetri came into this match with some good form behind him and he played like a man possessed. He's always at his best when he enjoys himself, and on Saturday he had a ball. Ghosting in effortlessly into the striker's role, playing 1-2-1 passes with the likes of Seiminlen Doungel and Nishu Kumar to the left and Alwyn George and Eugeneson Lyngdoh to the right. Chhetri scored two goals and assisted an incredible four, including the team's sixth for substitute CK Vineeth, who effortlessly whipped a left-footed attempt in after Chhetri had set it up for him. Fittingly, that goal took the Bengaluru duo to joint-top place among BFC's goal-getters this season, with seven each. No other Indian striker has scored more this season. Albert Roca wants the team to stay grounded In the post-match press conference, Roca kept repeating that he wanted his team to keep their feet firmly on the ground, especially after a scoreline like the one they had experienced. It was their biggest margin of victory in domestic or international competition, and at the time of Vineeth's goal, they had already scored one more than their previous record. Roca also explained the decision to field three at the back, which has begun reaping rewards lately. "We saw we were defending well (with four at the back) but we couldn't make good things forward. We decided three was enough and I think we took the right position considering how our team has performed in the last three games," he said. "(But we) cannot really say it is the system (alone), even the players are learning quickly. Nishu [Kumar] was a young player who is starting to pick up things. Daniel [Lalhlimpuia], Malsawmzuala are all people who will have a long time in this team, and it is important to get them playing in these conditions." A happy camp at the end of the day As the lights at the Kanteerava were being put out, and the dust was settling, it was an unusual sight to see the entire team cooling down with a game inside one of the penalty boxes, with a makeshift goal created opposite the actual one along the edge of the box. There was mirth, laughter and participation from players from the starting eleven, the bench and even some of the reserves. Roca would put things in perspective later by stressing the need to hit full force ahead of the Federation Cup and the remaining matches in the AFC Cup. "A team that won two titles the last three years (cannot be satisfied with what we have done). The circumstances haven't helped us. The transfers perhaps weren't as good as we wanted. "We have scored a lot of goals today, but in other games we were unlucky and (we realise) how important it was to score in the final third. We planned well, but we paid for that. We have to see that there are important goals ahead and we haven't done anything."
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