ISL 2020-21 highlights, CFC vs BFC: Chhetri goal gives Bengaluru 1-0 win vs Chennaiyin

ISL 2020, BFC vs CFC: Sunil Chhetri's second half penalty gives Bengaluru FC a 1-0 win over Chennaiyin FC at GMC Stadium Bambolim in Goa.

Updated : Dec 05, 2020 03:44 IST

Sunil Chhetri's penalty gave Bengaluru FC the lead against Chennaiyin FC.
Sunil Chhetri's penalty gave Bengaluru FC the lead against Chennaiyin FC.
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Sunil Chhetri's penalty gave Bengaluru FC the lead against Chennaiyin FC.

Chennaiyin vs Bengaluru - MATCH UPDATES

SECOND HALF

Chhetri on Thapa's injury "I asked him during the game and he said he twisted his ankle. Him not playing majority of the game helped us but I am fond of him and I hope nothing major has happened to him because he is very important for the country. I think I am doing allright. I need to work a lot. Not getting the win in first two games played in my head and my teammates as well. Hopefully, in the next few games we will improve a lot in attack."

Chennaiyin coach Laszlo: "I think if we lose 1-0 it's always painful. I can tell you guys, last 35 minutes we tried to score the goal. It was a clear penalty but referee didn't see it. I criticised players internally because we made some stupid mistakes before the goal. we need to work. Tactically we could have been better in the first half. We learn from it. [On progress made so far] I have had good games and bad games in my career when it comes to refereeing. I feel sorry for the players. Ashique made 3 hard fouls on Thapa, who is one of the best players in India, so the referees needed to protect him. We had to take him out. I have to make a big compliment of my team because of the tactical change of three at the back in the end. We have to accept this defeat. I am angry about myself sometimes because I had to make some changes before."

Bengaluru coach Cuadrat: "[On chances from open play] Yea, we are improving the pattern ofplay. Still the last pass is not happening. We had some good chances for the last pass to get 2-0. We were suffering at the end because of that. [On Suresh] He has done a good job. When he signed for the club last season, he had some mistakes, taking too much time on the ball deciding when to pass. He is a clever player. He does a lot for the team."

Comments from the coaches coming up next.

Chennayin came out if its shell after the goal but it couldn't find the equaliser and falls to its first defeat of the season. The extent of Thapa's injury will be its biggest concern now.

FULL-TIME whistle blown. Bengaluru holds on despite Chennaiyin's pressure in the end. First win of the season for the Blues against their rivals. Chhetri blows his cheek out on the bench. Job done for Bengaluru. Edwin looks dejected after he gave away away the penalty in the second half which led to the winner.

Thapa has ice-pack strapped to his leg.

90'+4' Was that the chance for Chennaiyin?! The ball is played in down the left side for Sylvestr, whose side footed effort is palmed away by Gurpreet.

90'+1' Ball into the box and Sipovic is up in the BFC box. He goes for a spectacular bicycle kick which goes wide.  Assistant flags for offside, however,

FIVE minutes of added time.

90' Some tired legs out in the middle for Chennaiyin. Tangri seems to be having a limp leg.

87' Paartalu has a shot at goal from outside the box again. It's straight at Kaith.

84' BFC SUB:  Suresh OFF, Amay Morajkar ON

82' BFC SUB: Cleiton OFF, Fran Gonzalez ON

Chennaiyin pushing for the equaliser here. Dominating possession.

80' What a chance for Chennaiyin! Chhangte again with a superb ball from the left to find Fathullo but his side foot volley hits the side netting.

Drinks break taken

75' CFC SUBS: Reagan, Jerry OFF; Germanpreet, Rahim ON

74' Paartalu with a rasping drive from outside the box which goes just over the bar.

73' Rafael looks for a give-and-go from Chhagte but the winger's pass is hit too hard. goes out for a goal kick.

69' Chhangte gets away from Khabra and hooks in a cross into the six yard box where Rafael's header is deflected behind for a corner. Chennaiyin players ask for a penalty and replay shows the ball struck Ashique's arm. Let off for Bengaluru.

65' Tangri down on the floor after his own player trudges on his leg.

65' Fathullo brings out a save after Jerry's ball inside the box on to the right side of the goal.

63' Dimas and Sipovic are at it inside the Bengaluru box. Sipovic is enraged at the Spaniard as he squares up to him.

63' Corner for Chennaiyin.

61' Ashique wih a shot from distance and Kaith again gets behind it.

60' Ball rolled on to Dimas, who unleashes a shot from distance, which needed a fingertip save by a full-stretched Kaith to keep the ball out.

59' Edwin with a foul on Chhetri for running through him. 

57' CFC SUB: Esmael OFF, Fathullo ON

55' GOAL!  Chhetri scores his first of the season, slots it to the right of Kaith. Another set piece goal for Bengaluru but it won't care where the goals come from.

55' Penalty for Bengaluru. Edwin's outstretched feet catches Cleiton inside the box. Paartalu with a pass rolled down the left channel to find the run of Cleiton.

Freekick on the left side for BFC. Chennaiyin clears it away from danger.

53' Reagan is booked now for a poor challenge on Ashique.

52' Crivellaro's free-kick is met by Tangri's header which Gurpreet leaps to catch it.

51' Another innovative idea from the setpiece but no goal comes of it. It leads to a counter attack from which Suresh ends up fouling Concalves. He gets booked for that.

50' Foul on the edge of the rightside of Chnnaiyin's box after a highboot by Chhangte on Chhetri.

48' Crivellaro booked for cleaning out Ashique with a lunging tackle.

47' Bheke brings down Goncalves by grabbing his shirt. Crivellaro's freekick fails to beat the man inside the box.

46' Second half underway. BFC SUB: Brown OFF, Opseth ON

Looks like BFC is bringing on Kristian Opseth in the second half.

HALF-TIME whistle blown. Phew. A physical battle between the two sides which unfortunately saw Anirudh Thapa go off injured. Bengaluru would feel like it should be ahead for all the possession but it hasn't found that penetrating/high-risk pass. Thapa looked

Cuadrat screaming at Chhetri to push further up the pitch to offer options in attack.

45'+2' Chhangte gets down the wrong side of Khabra but his cross doesnt find a teammate.

Three minutes of added time.

43' Bengaluru dominating possession and looking closest to opening the scoring here. Spaces opening up for them but they can't get the final pass right.

39' Kaith punches the ball behind, away from Bheke for another corner.

Bengaluru has done well to mark Crivellaro out of the game so far. Dimas and Suresh have doubled up on him to not allow him to go on one of his dribbles.

37' Header for Juanan from close range after a knock on from Paartalu from a long throw in. Unluckily for him the header is straight at him. 

34' Bengaluru stretch Chennaiyin on the break but they waste a good opportunity to find someone inside the box with a key pass. Khabra ends up passing backwards from which Chennaiyin win the ball back.

Thapa is shown wincing on the bench. Chennaiyin fans would hope it's not a long lay-off.

Water break taken

30' Nearly a goal! Free header for Rahul Bheke, who was unmarked on the edge of the box, to run into the penalty area to get to the ball. But his header on the dive goes narrowly wide of the far post.

29' Cross cut out by Sabia behind for the first corner of the game. Short-worked corner is deflected behind for another corner.

28' Kaith with a good interception to take the ball away from Brown's run to get on to the ball.

25' Some good quick passing play from Chennai down the right side but Esmael's pass to release Edwin is too strong.

21' Eli Sabia booked for catching Cleiton with his arm. Chhangte looks to run away down the left side on the break but Suresh tracks back to barge the winger off the ball.

A fierce first 20 minutes here with challenges flying in from both sides.

18' Chance on the break for Chennaiyin. Esmael sets up Crivellaro, whose fierce shot is caught well by Gurpreet.

18'  Freekick for BFC on the right. Sipovic comes out to clear the header away from the CFC box.

Edwin comes on for his first appearance of the season.

16' CFC SUB: Thapa OFF, Edwin Vanspaul ON

Thapa signals to the bench he can't continue...

14' Bengaluru move the ball from right to left to free up Ashique, who plays a one-two with Chhetri, but the return pass has too much pace on it.

Thapa seems okay to continue.

Ashique must be careful now. He has made three fouls in the opening minutes.

11' Thapa is down on the pitch.. Thapa wins the ball but Ashique catches him on the follow through while challenging for possession.

9' Another foul called against a BFC player. Juanan wins the header against Crivellaro but the referee sees a foul in that. The BFC players aren't happy.

7' Ashique again clatters into a Chennaiyin man. This time it's Tangri, who goes down. Yellow card for the BFC left-back.

It's Khabra, who is playing as the right-back/wingback role.

Thapa isn't happy with that challenge and with no decision by the referee. He is up and returns to the pitch.

5' Ashique clatters into Thapa and the Chennaiyin midfielder goes down. He seems to be in considerable pain. No freekick.

3' Freekick for Chennaiyin outside BFC's box. Crivellaro's effort is blocked by he wall.

1' Chennaiyin kick off from left to right. Cross from the left is intercepted by Sipovic.

FIRST HALF

7.24 pm: The players make their way out to the middle. Bengaluru comes out in its away colours (white), followed by Chennaiyin in its home colours.

7.15 pm: Bengaluru has had only 12 shots from two games with just two on target, which resulted in their goals in the draw against Goa.

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Will the Bengaluru skipper Chhetri open his goal-scoring account against Chennaiyin? - ISL/Sportzpics
 

7 pm: BFC coach Carles Cuadrat has gone for more strength and height to his line-up. Brown offers direct approach, while Rahul Bheke will bring in cover on the left flank against the pace of Lallianzuala Chhangte. However, it remains to be seen if it will be Bheke or Khabra who will slot into that role.

6.45 pm: One change for Chennaiyin. Left-back Fanai, who is injured, is replaced by Jerry Lalrinzuala. Bengaluru has dropped striker Opseth and winger Udanta Singh for Deshorn Brown and Rahul Bhek, respectively. Dimas Delgado makes his first start of the season and comes in for Fran Gonzalez.

LINE UPS

Chennaiyin FC XI (4-4-2)

Vishal Kaith; Reagan Singh, Eli Sabia, Enes Sipovic, Jerry Lalrinzuala; Anirudh Thapa, Deepak Tangri, Rafael Crivellaro, Lallianzuala Chhangte; Esmael Goncalves, Jakub Sylvestr

Bengaluru FC XI (3-4-3)

Gurpreet Singh Sandhu; Harmanjot Khabra, Erik Paartalu, Juanan; Rahul Bheke, Dimas Delgado, Suresh Wangjam, Ashique Kuruniyan; Cleiton Silva, Deshorn Brown, Sunil Chhetri

6.22 pm: Team news coming your way in few minutes...

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Chennaiyin players after reaching the GMC Athletic Stadium ahead of the match against Bengaluru. - ISL/Sportzpics
 

6.10 pm: What makes Chennaiyin vs Bengaluru the big ticket game that is despite it being a three-year old rivalry? Bengaluru's first season in the ISL in 2017-18 saw these two teams quickly become adversaries over a three-match span which ended in a thrilling final. Aashin Prasad spoke to players --former and current -- from both these teams to explain what this fixture means to them. READ

Here's how the two teams could line-up.

Chennaiyin FC predicted XI (4-4-2)

Vishal Kaith; Reagan Singh, Eli Sabia, Enes Sipovic, Jerry Lalrinzuala; Anirudh Thapa, Deepak Tangri, Rafael Crivellaro, Lallianzuala Chhangte; Esmael Goncalves, Jakub Sylvestr

Bengaluru FC predicted XI (3-4-3)

Gurpreet Singh Sandhu; Harmanjot Khabra, Erik Paartalu, Juanan; Udanta Singh, Dimas Delgado, Suresh Wangjam, Ashique Kuruniyan; Cleiton Silva, Kristian Opseth, Sunil Chhetri

We have also got you covered for your fantasy Chennaiyin-Kerala combined XI. Captaincy pick: Esmael Goncalves (CFC), Vice-captain: Sunil Chhetri

Combined CFC-BFC XI

Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (BFC); Reagan Singh (CFC), Eli Sabia (CFC), Juanan (BFC), Ashique Kuruniyan (BFC); Anirudh Thapa (CFC), Dimas Delgado (BFC); Esmael Goncalves (CFC), Rafael Crivellaro (CFC), Lallianzuala Chhangte (CFC); Sunil Chhetri (BFC)

MATCH PREVIEW

Chennaiyin FC will look to get back to winning ways while Bengaluru FC (BFC) would want to secure its first victory of the campaign when the two southern rivals go toe-to-toe at the GMC Stadium in Bambolim, Goa, on Friday.

Chennaiyin has looked sharp thus far in the tournament, notching up a 2-1 win over Jamshedpur FC in the opener, and creating quite a few chances against Kerala Blasters before settling for a point, courtesy a spurned penalty.

 

BFC, on the other hand, has started with two draws and is struggling to build momentum. Question marks are being raised over the side’s offensive play, with the 2018-19 champion having recorded just 12 shots in its two games, with only three of them on target.

Chennaiyin has not been found wanting in this aspect, with captain and playmaker Rafael Crivellaro and India’s Anirudh Thapa providing the creative impetus. But its goal-conversion rate has to improve and coach Csaba Laszlo will hope that striker Jakub Sylvestr will quickly recover after missing the spot-kick against Kerala.

Where BFC has the edge over other outfits is in the fitness department. In an ISL season where players being stretchered off mid-match has become all too common, BFC has a fully fit squad. Cuadrat also confirmed that influential midfielder Dimas Delgado, who is being eased into the team and has come off the bench in both matches, was closer to a starting spot.

Laszlo, meanwhile, confirmed that left-back Jerry Lalrinzuala will start instead of Chhuantea Fanai, who was substituted in the encounter versus Kerala with an injury.

 

ISL 2020-21 points table

Follow Sportstar's full coverage (Latest news, Interviews, Features, Points table, Quiz, Videos) of ISL 2020-21 here. Click here

The Indian Super League (ISL 2020-21) will mark the return of major league competition in India after the nationwide lockdown to prevent the COVID-19 outbreak was first imposed in March.

The seventh edition of the ISL got underway inside a bio-bubble in Goa on November 20.

The tournament, spanning over four months, will see 11 teams play each other in a league and playoff format across three venues. Following SC East Bengal's inclusion, this season will feature 115 games, up from 95 last season.

- THE SQUADS -

CHENNAIYIN FC: Karanjit Singh, Vishal Kaith, Revanth BY, Samik Mitra, Eli Sabia, Jerry Lalrinzuala, Enes Sipovic, Lalchhuanmawia Fanai, Reagan Singh, Deepak Tangri, Aqib Nawab, Remi Aimol, Ganesan Balaji, Anirudh Thapa, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Rafael Crivellaro, Memo Moura, Fatkhullo Fatkhuloev, Edwin Vanspaul, Thoi Singh, Dhanpal Ganesh, Germanpreet Singh, Abhijit Sarkar, Sinivasan Pandiyan, Aman Chetri, Esmael Goncalves, Jakub Sylvestr, Rahim Ali

BENGALURU FC:  Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Lara Sharma, Dipesh Chauhan, Lalthuammawia Ralte, Juanan, Rahul Bheke, Fran Gonzalez, Harmanjot Khabra, Ajith Kumar, Joe Zoherliana, Biswa Darjee, Namgyal Bhutia, Parag Srivas, Pratik Chaudhari, Wungngayam Muirang, Dimas Delgado, Erik Paartalu, Suresh Wangjam, Thoi Singh, Ajay Chhetri, Naorem Roshan Singh, Emanuel Lalchhanchhuaha, Amay Morajkar, Sunil Chhetri, Kristian Opseth, Cleiton Silva, Ashique Kuruniyan, Deshorn Brown, Udanta Singh, Edmund Lalrindika, Leon Augustin, Semboi Haokip

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