Goals from Udanta Singh and Pratik Chaudhary in the second half helped Bengaluru to a 4-2 win over Chennaiyin FC. The Blues registered just their second success of the season to move away from the bottom of the table.
Neither Bengaluru nor Chennaiyin had been in good form ahead of their Thursday night clash at the Tilak Maidan. Bengaluru, under manager Marco Pezzaiuoli, had recorded just one win all season. Meanwhile, Chennaiyin, who had started the season strongly and were unbeaten for the first four games, had lost two of their last three.
Both sides were desperate for a positive result, but it was Chennaiyin who took the lead in the fourth minute. A long, hoofed ball over the top by Germanpreet Singh was collected out on the left flank by Mirlan Murzaev. The Kyrgyzstan international then cut back inside, beat his nearest man, and curled his shot into the corner.
The early goal sparked a period of domination for Chennaiyin, during which Gurpreet Singh Sandhu prevented Rahim Ali from doubling the lead twice. Bengaluru grew into the game and were rewarded for their efforts with a 37th-minute penalty, conceded by Jerry Lalrinzuala, as he handled the ball inside the box – Cleiton Silva stepped up to score and leveled things up.
Six minutes later, BFC had overturned the deficit. Vishal Kaith rushed off his line to clear a corner but missed the ball completely, allowing Alan Costa to head it into an unguarded net.
Chennaiyin equalized mere minutes after the restart; Murzaev played the ball to Ali in the middle of the box, and his shot went through Sandhu. With the game in the balance, Pezzaiuoli sent on his substitutes, who combined effectively to win it for Bengaluru.
The Blues took the lead in the 70th minute when three of those brought on, Sunil Chhetri, Danish Farooq Bhat, and Udanta Singh, combined before the latter found the bottom corner with a fierce strike from the right side of the box. Four minutes later, Kaith spilled another corner, allowing Bruno Ramires to head the ball towards Pratik Chaudhari – another of the subs – for a simple tap-in.
Bengaluru’s second win of the season takes them to eighth in the table. Meanwhile, Chennaiyin are in free-fall; their third loss in four sees them drop down to sixth.
