Who else but him? India's and Bengaluru's star striker Sunil Chhetri made the home side's positive start count by heading home the opener. <br> The clock showed only nine minutes when Chhetri met a deflected cross from Udanta Singh with a diving header to put the ball past Karanjit Singh.
Chennaiyin's towering centre-back Mailson Alves struck not once but twice to silence the Bengaluru's faithful. Alves rose the highest to rifle a header in to neutralise the advantage gained by the home side. Then, right on the stroke of half-time, he scored another header to give Chennaiyin the lead.
Mailson Alves was undoubtedly the hero of the final for John Gregory's Chennaiyin FC. The bedrock in defence churned out many match-winning performances in Chennaiyin's championship win.
Raphael Augusto's curling effort effectively killed Bengaluru's hopes of a comeback. The Brazilian, who has played for Chennaiyin since 2015, yet again rose to the occasion in the final as he proved a constant thorn in Bengaluru's defence.
The final whistle set off joyous celebrations in the visitor's camp. The boisterous away fans, who arrived in a fleet of buses, made Chennaiyin feel at home on the big night.
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