Bengaluru FC opened its ISL 2025-26 campaign with a comfortable 2-0 win over Sporting Club Delhi at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday.
BFC was the better team on the night, claiming the victory through goals from Sivasakthi Narayanan and Sunil Chhetri.
The home side started with Narayanan and Ryan Williams in attack, leaving Chhetri on the bench.
Williams came alive early with a shot which went just wide of the far post. Minutes later, Ashique Kuruniyan dispatched a strong header, which was parried over by SC Delhi goalkeeper Vishal Yadav.
The deadlock was broken just before half-time, when Nikhil Poojary laid a perfect headed pass to an unmarked Narayanan in front of goal.
AS IT HAPPENED: BFC VS SCD HIGHLIGHTS
BFC continued to pile the pressure on Delhi, which struggled to keep possession.
The visitor created a chance when Augustine Lalrochana struck a low shot. BFC custodian Gurpreet Sandhu pulled off a fine save to keep his team ahead.
Striker Alan Saji came close to dragging SC Delhi level, but missed a chance from close range.
The sizeable 12,300-odd crowd rejoiced in injury time when Chhetri got on the scoresheet. The 41-year-old managed to dodge Vishal, who had run way out of the box to disrupt a tempting pass. With Vishal out of the way, Chhetri calmly slotted a left-footed strike into the empty net.
Chhetri (41 years, 6 months and 12 days old) became the oldest goal-scorer in ISL history, a record previously held by French World Cup winner Robert Pires (41 years, 15 days).
Published on Feb 15, 2026
