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Xtra Time Web Desk: Team sports returned in the country post the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic with the start of the I League 2020 Qualifiers. Sanitation tunnels, temperature checks and socially distant pre-match routines were in place at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata as live sporting action returned to country for the first time since the lockdown, sans crowds in the stands.  

The first match of the I-League Qualifiers 2020, saw Bhawanipore FC registering a 2-0 win over FC Bengaluru United. The match was played under unique circumstances with no fans, water breaks in each half and five substitutions available to coaches under the new COVID-19 protocols. However, that did little to deter the players who put in a passionate display treating fans to their first taste of live sporting action in India since the lockdown.

Bhawanipore broke the deadlock in the final minute of the first-half added time. Ghanian forward Philip Adjah was sent through on goal and his shot was only parried onto the feet of an onrushing Pankaj Moula, who was at hand to tap in the rebound. A goal down, Bengaluru showed more urgency to level scores by committing men forward. Bhawanipore doubled their lead in the 60th minute with a lightning-quick counter-attack. Altamash Sayed picked up the ball just outside his penalty box and played a long ball in search of Adjah. The Ghanian kept Bengaluru skipper Rana Gharami at bay and then thumped a powerful volley right across the face of goal, leaving the keeper no chance as the ball bounced in off the far post.

Bhawanipore will next take on Garhwal FC on October 14. FC Bengaluru United will look to put some points on the board as they too face Garhwal in their next outing, scheduled for October 11.

With Inputs from AIFF Media