Bengaluru: Alan Costa scored a late winner to deliver Bengaluru FC a 1-0 win over NorthEast United in their Indian Super League (ISL) opener on Saturday.
The Brazilian defender headed home from substitute Javier Hernandez's corner in the 87th minute.
The visitors thought they had equalised in added time with Jon Gaztanaga hammering a shot past Gurpreet Sandhu. However, it was ruled offside.
Bengaluru could have taken the lead in the 78th minute when Udanta Singh had a glorious chance inside the box, but his shot sailed over.
Shortly after the hour, Sivashakti unselfishly played his skipper Sunil Chhetri through, but the strike fluffed his lines.
Bengaluru had dominated possession in the first half and Chhetri saw a header miss the target. His strike partner Sivashakti too failed to beat the keeper from a Roshan Naorem pull back.