ISL 2018-19, Chennaiyin FC 2-1 Bengaluru FC: 5 Hits and Flops as Jeje Lalpekhlua breaks his goalscoring jinx
Chennaiyin FC got their first home victory in ISL when they defeated Bengaluru FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Saturday. However, this victory didn't change the Marina Machans' position in the points table as they are still languishing in the bottom of the pile with 8 points from 15 matches.
Jeje Lelpekhlua broke his goalscoring jinx after finding the back of the net in the 32nd minute to draw first blood. Gregory Nelson scored another goal just before the stroke of halftime to ensure the Marina Machans headed into the game with a two-goal cushion. Sunil Chhetri did pull one back in the 57th minute through an acrobatic header but it turned out to be a mere consolation as the full-time scoreline reached 2-1.
Bengaluru FC gaffer Carles Cuadat made as many as five changes to the side that rallied from behind to hold Kerala Blasters 2-2 in their previous encounter. Kean Lewis, Albert Serran, Dimas Delgado, Udanta Singh, and Edmund Lalrindika made their way out for Miku, Luisma Villa, Rino Anto, Rahul Bheke, and Xisco Hernandez in the starting line-up.
Chennaiyin FC coach John Gregory, on the other hand, made only three changes to the side that lost 1-2 to FC Pune City. The Indian Asian Cup 2019 trio of Germanpreet Singh, Anirudh Thapa, and Halicharan Narzary started from the bench so that Francisco Fernandes, new signing Chris Herd, and Jeje Lalpekhlua started out.
The match was evenly contested but individual brilliance and mistakes turned out to be the difference. On that note, here are five hits and flops from the Chennaiyin FC vs. Bengaluru FC match.
#5 Hit- Karanjit Singh (Chennaiyin FC)
Karanjit Singh might no longer be competing for the #1 spot in the Indian national team line-up but, the 33-year-old has shown that age hasn't withered him down. Although he wasn't tested as frequently as Gurpreet, he did his job wonderfully when the opposition asked him questions.
Karanjit wonderfully countered Gurpreet's long ball towards Luisma Villa and Sunil Chhetri by coming out of his line to get hold of the ball. Bengaluru FC are pretty dangerous on set pieces but, his positioning sense ensured they couldn't score from one on the given day.