#2 Karanjit Singh’s memorable return
Had it not been for Karanjit Singh’s doggedness under the woodwork, Chennai could have lost the match in the first-half itself. Right since the outset, Karanjit came up with stunning saves on the bounce.
As early as in the 7th minute, Norde came menacingly close to scoring but his tame shot was blocked by Karanjit, who refused to wilt under pressure.
He came up with a stellar save again a few minutes later when he denied Norde for the second time. This time he cleared his lines too. Subasish Bose tried his hand in taking a long range effort but Karanjit gripped the ball on the rebound.
In the very next minute, he once again proved to be a bulwark to Darryl Duffy who couldn’t get the better of the veteran custodian.
The most exultant moment of the match for this former JCT player was when he made another stunning save, diving to his right to deny Sony Norde’s spot-kick, keeping things level, for the hosts.
Things weren’t any different in the second half. Jeje squared to Katsumi brilliantly, whose shot was again saved by Karanjit.
Barring the two goals, which he could do little about, the keeper stood tall and strong.
