Striker C K Vineeth struck a second-half goal as Bengaluru Football Club beat new entrant Aizawl FC by a solitary goal in an I-League match, in Bengaluru, on Sunday.
With this win, Bengaluru jumped to second spot with 18 points with six wins out of nine matches.
On the other hand, this was Aizawl's fifth loss in their debut season and they are now at seventh spot in the nine-team league table with nine points.
Vineeth stepped up his attacking game by making dangerous forays into the rival's danger zone as he leapt to head the ball into the net after Keegan Pereira swirled in a beautiful freekick, scoring the only goal of the match in the 49th minute at Sree Kanteerva Stadium.
That was Vineeth's fourth goal of the season in the League, his fifth in all competitions.
Aizawl had a golden opportunity to score an equaliser in the 88th minute as Bengaluru goalkeeper Amrinder Singh executed a wonderful save as he stopped a point blank range shot by striker Alfred Jaryan.
Unfortunately, Bengaluru lost their captain Sunil Chhetri after he suffered a cramp in his left leg and Daniel Lalhlimpuia took the field for his first I-League appearance in the 59th minute.
