Chennaiyin FC lifted their game to
a level befitting the occasion and sent fancied Bengaluru FC crushing to a
painful 2-3 defeat, clinching the Indian Super League title. Chennaiyin FC
Mailson Alves turned out to be the star of the title with a brace. And there
was also some Brazilian touch to the game.
Mailson first scored in the 17th
minute, which cancelled Sunil Chhetri's ninth minute opener for the
hosts, and then propelled his side to a remarkable lead with another leaping
header in the 45th minute. Raphael Augusto, also a Brazilian, added to
the home team's agony with his 67th minute strike, leaving the raucous home fans
stunned at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, which was packed to the rafters.
Miku scored for
Bengaluru in injury time but that proved to be too little, too late. Interestingly,
four out of the five goals came through headers. This was Chennaiyin
FC's second title triumph in the ISL, tying them with ATK as the most
successful team in the tournament. In their quest to find the equalizer,
Bengaluru FC often left gap in the back line, and Chennaiyin took full
advantage of that to close out the game.
Entering the final after an
unbeaten run of 10 games, Bengaluru FC started it in the earnest and affected
the first breakthrough. Chhetri's opening goal gave Bengaluru FC the
advantage they needed early on in the summit showdown. Chhetri headed in
after the impressive Udanta Singh, with a great burst of pace down the wings,
made the assist. Bengaluru, who played in 3-4-3 formation, were dominant
in the first 10 minutes.
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