Bangalore: A match billed as the first ‘South-Indian derby’ truly served it’s essence as Chennaiyin FC came out victorious 2-1 against the more favoured Bengaluru FC at the Kanteerava Stadium on Sunday. Five minutes into the game Jeje Lalpekhlua scored the opener, before Dhanpal Ganesh scored the winner in the final minute. Captain Sunil Chhetri who squandered some easy chances in the opening half, had earlier equalised in the 85th minute.
Down by a goal in the opening five minutes of the match, Bengaluru almost snatched a draw when Sunil Chhetri restored parity in the 85th minute. Always energetic, the captain however was found waning in an important match squandering some easy chances most importantly an one-on-one situation, which proved costly in the end.
But the equaliser could not deter the confidence of a resurgent Chennaiyin who took the lead for a second time in the match. Dhanpal Ganesh an unlikely resource, in the presence of the more celebrated Raphael Augusto and Henrique Sereno, scored the winner. Four minutes after Chhetri had equalised, a Rene Mihelič free-kick found Dhanpal’s header, edging past a stranded Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, who made a return after a suspension of two matches.
Facing a team on a winning spree of two matches and at their own backyard, it took just five minutes for the ‘Marina Machans’ to open their account after Bengaluru defence failed to clear a ball. A poor clearance saw Jeje latch onto the loose ball and net home his third goal in the competition.
The Mizo boy often known for his killer instinct, once again proved just why he is so highly rated by both John Gregory and national coach Stephen Constantine.
Tempers flew from both sides towards the end, with Bengaluru players surrounding the referee over a penalty decision, that they felt should have gone their way.
Meanwhile, the win took Chennaiyin to 12 points, on par with both Bengaluru and FC Goa. They however remain third with a interior goal-diffrence and now look the favourites to clinch all three against a depleted Kerala Blasters.