New Delhi, Feb 3 (Reporter) Bengaluru FC’s play-off ambitions suffered yet another blip when Gerard Zaragoza’s side suffered a 3-1 defeat to Punjab FC at the JN Stadium here on Saturday. Skipper Sunil Chhetri gave Bengaluru a lead (15’) before the hosts clawed back through a goal from Wilmar Jordan (23’). Luka Majcen (72’ ) and Mahdi Talal (77’) then scored in quick succession to put the game beyond the Blues. Zaragoza decided to hand new signing Chinglensana Singh a club debut, while another January buy, Nikhil Poojary, came off the bench in the second half. Bengaluru needed fifteen minutes to grab the lead, and it came when Chhetri met a delightful cross from Naorem Roshan, nodding it into the ground and past Ravi Kumar in goal to make it 1-0. The move, the result of a quick break, was reminiscent of Bengaluru of old. However, Punjab took less than ten minutes to respond when Jordan slipped between the lines and met Abhishek Singh’s cross with a diving header at the near post to make it 1-1. Bengaluru came close on more than one occasion to take the game away from Punjab. Slavko Damjanovic picked Ryan Williams with an accurate crossfield ball that the Australian did well to bring down. But just as the Bengaluru player was about to take his shot at goal, defender Dimitrios Chatziisaias turned up with a block. Minutes later Javi Hernandes caught a Williams cross with his left foot on the volley, and goal-bound, only for Ravi Kumar to turn up with a save. Having survived Bengaluru’s onslaught, Punjab grew into the half and caught the Blues on the counter to take the lead. Picked out by a pass from Talal between the lines, Majcen took his time before calmly slotting past Gurpreet to make it 2-1 to Punjab. Talal then scored a goal of his own when he picked up the ball from a miscued effort to clear from Aleksandar Jovanovic, raced on towards goal and then lifted his take over an onrushing Gurpreet to make it 3-1, and put the game to bed. The defeat moved Bengaluru down to 10th position in the table, leaving the Blues very little error for margin through the rest of the season. Bengaluru return home at the Kanteerava on Wednesday where they take on rivals Chennaiyin FC in what is now a must-win game for Zaragoza...////...