It was all square, 0-0, at the Fatorda Stadium when Bengaluru FC came up against their southern neighbors Chennaiyin FC. Match 83 of the Indian Super League (ISL) was played at 19:30 (07:30 PM) IST on 5th February 2021.
Chennaiyin FC are now at the 8th spot in the league table with 17 points in 16 games played and against the Blues being the last. The 6th spot is taken by the Blues after sharing points with Chennaiyan FC and have 19 points in 16 games.
The previous meeting between the teams took place on 4th December 2020. Bengaluru FC came out as the winners after Sunil Chhetri scoring the only goal through a penalty.
BENGALURU FC CHENNAIYIN FC: TEAM NEWS
The Interim Head Coach Naushad Moosa came with the same formula of 4-4-2 which earned the Blues a win against SC East Bengal by 2-0. There were few changes in the starting 11 where Harmanjot Khabra changed his place from midfield to defense by replacing Rahul Bheke, Erik Paartula, and Parag Shrivas taking the place in midfield, and the rest of the team being same.
On the other hand, Chennaiyin FC Head Coach Csaba Laszlo made three changes in the starting 11 in the same formation of 4-2-3-1. Deepak Tangri was replaced by Enes Sipovic, Anirudh Thapa replaced Germanpreet Singh, and new signing Manuel Lanzarote taking the centre role by replacing Thoi Singh.
BENGALURU FC CHENNAIYIN FC: MATCH ANALYSIS:
Since the start of the game, Chennaiyin FC came to take three points from the Blues but luck didn’t favor them. Using their high pressing, Marina Machans were making the Blues very uncomfortable in their own half and forcing them to make mistakes.
Isma, the striker of Marina Machans, got clear chances but luck and Gurpreet Singh(Bengaluru FC goalkeeper) were standing between him and goal. Lallianzuala Chhangte was constantly creating a threat from the flanks and Manuel Lanzarote was making his mark on his debut.
The blues were saved by Gurpreet Singh Sandhu with his heroic saves with a spice of luck on it when a shot from Memo (Chennaiyin FC) hits the left post taken from outside the box from a free-kick. The Blues had their chances but a few like Sunil Chhetri’s shot was blocked in front of goal and a disallowed goal by Fran Gonzalez who was caught offside on through of Xisco Hernandez.
There were two changes in the match by the Marina Machans, putting Germanpreet Singh in for Anirudh Thapa and Thoi Singh in for Rahim Ali, whereas the Blues made only 1 change Xisco Hernandez in for Ajith Kumar.
NOTABLE PERORMANCES:
Gurpreet Singh Sandhu: Another extra-ordinary performance from the guardian of the Blues. Let it be a one-on-one, long range shot or a set piece, Gurpreet was equally better than the attempt. Saving the Blues from sinking in a high pressure game, he brought another clean sheet to their name.
In the next round of matches in the Indian Super League, Bengaluru FC will go against one of the title contenders, ATK Mohun Bagan. Chennaiyin FC will stand in the way of Jamshedpur FC.
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