West Ham United score four past Bengaluru FC 

by Chittu Shetty May 21, 2023

West Ham United defeated Bengaluru FC 4-0 in their Reliance Foundation presents Premier League Next Generation Cup fixture at the Reliance Corporate Park (RCP) tonight.

Bengaluru put forth a formidable challenge in front of West Ham as the Blues were extremely lively in the middle of the park.

The Reliance Foundation Development League (RFDL) winners demonstrated terrific zeal as they looked to win possession higher up the field and were even successful in doing so on quite a few occasions. However, the transition to attack appeared to be a bit incoherent and that prevented them from producing clear-cut goal-scoring opportunities at times.

The Hammers gradually grew into the game after a cautious start. They began taking their risks and a coordinated effort from their frontline helped them score the opener in the 22nd minute. Shighil NS from Bengaluru FC was caught a bit off-guard as the Blues looked to build up an offensive move deep from their end.

Archie Woods immediately pounced upon that chance and recovered the ball back from Shighil. Woods then played a quick pass to West Ham playmaker George Earthy, who squared up a pass for forward Dan Riggie. The striker comfortably slotted the ball into the back of the net as the Lauris Coggin-coached team secured an important lead at a crucial juncture in the first half.

Bengaluru responded strongly, as their star player Huidrom Thoi Singh seemed to be taking charge of their offensive endeavors. Thoi displayed some impeccable footwork as he took on a couple of defenders and stepped into the box intending to drill the ball into the back of the net. However, Ryan Battrum and Josh Briggs blocked his way and neatly won the ball back from him to keep Bengaluru at bay.

The Hammers began the second half with equal vigor as they wasted no time and were swift in moving up courtesy of some brilliant interlinking between Earthy and Favour Fawunmi.

Fawunmi tested the Bengaluru backline several times initially and he played a quick one-two with Earthy before shooting the ball into the bottom right corner in the 36th minute to get West Ham’s second goal of the game and eventually seal the game in their favor as well. The Hammers only became more threatening going forward as the match progressed. Rigge dropped back to help build up an attacking move and he passed it on to Fawunmi, who was waiting inside the 18-yard box. Fawunmi could not take a solid shot but substitute Blaise Uwandji capitalized on the same to get his name on the scoresheet. 

Just when it appeared that West Ham were done with their goal-scoring fest, substitute Lewis Orford netted again in the 72nd minute to further his team’s margin of win and cap off a near-perfect performance for the visiting team.

West Ham United and Bengaluru FC will next face Stellenbosch FC and ATK Mohun Bagan FC respectively at RCP on Tuesday.

Brief Scores

West Ham United 4 (Dan Riggie 9’, Favour Fawunmi 36’, Blaise Uwandji 65’, Lewis Orford 74’) – 0 Bengaluru FC

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