Bengaluru FC vs Chennaiyin FC: Who won yesterday's match?

Bengaluru FC eked out a point against a dangerous Chennaiyin FC with a 0-0 result in the 83rd match of the 2020-21 Indian Super League (ISL) season at the Fatorda Stadium in Margao, Goa. Chennaiyin FC had a host of chances in the second 45 minutes but a combination of great goal-keeping from Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and lack of luck resulted in the game finishing score-less.

With both teams requiring a win and nothing less, some attacking football was expected but there was a lot of scrappy play in the first quarter of the match. The first shot on target came from Esmael Goncalves in the 6th minute when he ran in from midfield. Gurpreet Singh Sandhu pushed it away but the ball fell for Rahim Ali who came up with a harmless strike on goal. Bengaluru FC also had a header on target from Fran Gonzalez after Parag Srivas delivered from the left flank.

The pacy Lallianzuala Chhangte could have got his name on the score-sheet soon but he could only head the ball straight to Gurpreet after Anirudh Thapa produced a testing cross. The wingers Chhangte and Rahim Ali could also not deliver quality from the wings when the likes of Thapa and Manuel Lanzarote found them with fine passes. Out of nowhere, Bengaluru FC could have scored through Chhetri if not for Eli Sabia’s crucial block.

The Marina Machans came back to finish the first-half strongly with Chhangte cutting in from the left flank to test Gurpreet. A few minutes later, Gurpreet was forced to save another strike from Lanzarote before he combined with his defenders to let the ball go out for a corner.

Chennaiyin FC started the second-half on a fine note with Manuel Lanzarote going direct from a free-kick near the right corner-flag. Gurpreet jumped full-stretch to get fingertips to the ball before it hit the cross-bar and went out of play. The Blues eventually got to the other end and had some half-chances of their own but they couldn’t quite test the opposition back-line.

Chennaiyin FC started to trouble Bengaluru FC once again around the hour mark by exploiting the space on the flanks. Initially, Germanpreet powered a shot from distance but it was parried away by Gurpreet. India’s No.1 custodian Gurpreet was made to come up with a more crucial save after Lanzarote delivered a ball behind the Bengaluru FC back-line for an onrushing Esmael Goncalves. However, the forward’s shot from close range was kept out by Gurpreet who made himself big to make that save.

The two-time ISL Champions made Bengaluru FC fret even more when Pratik Chaudhari just about managed to clear the ball over his own post after Chhangte put had put it into the danger area. Just after the cooling break, Fran Gonzalez headed the ball into the net after substitute Xisco Hernandez delivered a ball over the top but the defender was flagged off-side.

After that disappointment, Bengaluru FC could have suffered more if Chhangte had buried one of his two glorious chances. The left winger was guilty of trying to assist instead of taking a shot himself after doing all the hard-work while Gurpreet dived full-stretch to stop the second strike.

Midfielder Memo Moura dispatched a free-kick sweetly from almost 30-yards out but the ball struck the post before going out. With just a few seconds remaining, Bengaluru FC got a free-kick in a fine position but they couldn’t manufacture anything to test Vishal Kaith. In the end, both teams had to settle for a point.

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Who was the Hero of the Match?

Gurpreet Singh Sandhu's performance improved drastically as the game progressed. Courtesy: ISL

Bengaluru FC's Gurpreet Singh Sandhu was named as the ‘Hero of the Match’ for his extraordinary performance especially in the second-half of the game. The 29-year-old used his big frame to deny the duo of Isma and Lallianzuala Chhangte on plenty of occasions.

After going 11 games without a clean-sheet, Bengaluru FC and Gurpreet have registered two neat performances in a row. This was Gurpreet’s 29th clean sheet in ISL history and it also helped him surpass Subrata Paul to the top spot.