On Saturday, the Blues offered a glimpse of their old selves, recovering from a 1-2 deficit to beat Sporting Club Delhi 3-2 in a thrilling Indian Super League (ISL) season opener, giving their supporters plenty of reasons to dream of a fruitful edition. They did so, moreover, without their star forward Sunil Chhetri, who remained on the bench.

The stands, which had a bigger crowd than India's recent friendly against Panama, never stopped asking for the captain. The West Block Blues traditionally led an atmosphere that refused to die down even when the hosts trailed at half-time, egging on the players to respond in kind.

Spanish midfielder Borja Martinez announced his arrival with a brace on debut while Dutch defender Menno Koch went from villain to hero, heading home the winner in the 89th minute after his first-half own goal had handed Delhi the advantage.

But perhaps the most encouraging contribution came from youngster Soham Varshneya, whose introduction from the bench changed the complexion of the contest immediately. His fresh legs, coupled with his technical flair, eventually created the winner, offering an early vindication of head coach Pep Munoz's faith in BFC's academy graduates. It was precisely the kind of impact they had often lacked from their substitutes.

The hosts began brightly, pressing high and looking to impose themselves on a Delhi side that had enjoyed an impressive Durand Cup campaign.

Borja, deployed as central attacking midfielder, was at the heart of their attacking moves, first releasing Ashique Kuruniyan down the left before testing goalkeeper Nora Fernandes himself.

The breakthrough arrived in the 22nd minute when Chingambam Shivaldo Singh - asked to fill in as right-back for an unfit Nikhil Poojary - won possession and found Ryan Williams, who laid the ball off for Borja to drill home a low effort.

However, Delhi, who were far from being intimidated by the occasion, responded emphatically and almost immediately. After Gurpreet Singh Sandhu produced a superb reflex save to deny Juan Pena, talented Lalrinliana Hnamte released Rodriguinho through the middle for the Brazilian to round off Gurpreet and finish into an empty net in the 26th minute.

Six minutes later, they were ahead as Pena burst into the box and delivered a cross that Menno inadvertently turned into his own net.

Gurpreet, whose performances for India had recently come under intense scrutiny, could do little about either goal. Instead, he produced several important saves to keep Bengaluru within touching distance.

At the other end, Mihailo Perovic almost restored parity before the interval as his curling effort crashed into the crossbar.

Bengaluru continued searching for an equaliser from the restart with Williams squandering two promising opportunities by the hour mark.

Munoz, meanwhile, impacted the game from the touchline as he switched from a 4-2-3-1 formation to a 4-2-4 with his compatriot Borja throwing caution to the wind in search of an equaliser.

The versatile Spaniard's switch to the left flank in an adventurous 4-2-4, with Williams joining Perovic up front, gave Bengaluru greater attacking impetus and eventually turned the contest on its head.

Substitutes played their roles too as a fresh Manuel de Iriondo won possession in midfield in the 75th minute, allowing Perovic to release Borja, who finished emphatically from a tight angle.

Then came Varshneya's moment as the 22-year-old attacking midfielder reacted quickest when Borja's long-range effort was parried, delivering a sharp cross for Koch to glance home the winner.