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Chennaiyin FC became the first side to beat Bengaluru FC at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium this ISL season when John Gregory's men emerged 1-0 victors over their rivals in the Indian Super League on Sunday.
The visitors were rewarded for their dominating performance that managed to put an end to the Bengaluru juggernaut, who started the game as favourites to continue their winning run, in the local derby.
Jeje Lalpekhlua pounced on an opportunity in the 5th minute to put the visitors in front and Chennai never looked like conceding until the 85th minute when Sunil Chhetri's left foot sent the West Block Blues into a frenzy.
However, there was more late drama in the game and Chennaiyin grabbed the winner in the 88th minute when Dhanpal Ganesh headed home from a free-kick. The derby was fiercely contested between the sides ever since kick-off and things took a turn for the worse when the players got involved in a massive brawl at the end of the ninety minutes.
Here we take a look at the five key talking points from the game:
#1 Harmanjot Khabra escapes capital punishment
The Bengaluru FC right-back did not enjoy the best of games against his former side and was in fact, one of the luckiest players on the field. Khabra was constantly kept on his toes by Jude Nworuh and he lashed out an elbow at the Chennaiyin winger early on in the game to pick up a booking.
However, that was not all and the Bengaluru man was yet again involved in a reckless coming together with Jeje Lalpekhlua inside his team's penalty area and was really lucky to stay on the pitch. Chennaiyin, on the other hand, would have felt that they were robbed of a brilliant chance to put the game to bed early on.
#2 Raphael Augusto impresses yet again
Chennaiyin's dominance in the game was assured by one man's constant work rate and determination in the middle of the park. Augusto orchestrated the smooth functioning of his club's interests away from home and was a handful for the likes of Dimas Delgado and Lenny Rodrigues.
The midfielder's vision and impeccable reading of the game helped Chennaiyin come out on top during quite a few instances as he slowly stamped his authority all over the game. The Brazilian, who recently returned from injury, will be a key factor in his side's hopes of putting last season's misery away.
Augusto was replaced in the 76th minute after he was carried off in a stretcher following an ankle problem and John Gregory would hope that the Brazilian will be available for their next derby game against Kerala Blasters at home.
#3 Albert Roca's rotation policy backfired
Apart from the very obvious change of Gurpreet Singh Sandhu returning in goal for Bengaluru FC, after serving his suspension, Albert Roca made five changes to his side that beat FC Pune City a few days ago. The move was implemented in a bid to keep his team fresh as Bengaluru gear up for a busy schedule ahead.
Roca's rotation policy backfired on different levels and his side never looked like the team with the most points in the league. Nishu Kumar, who was given his first start of the season, simply could not cope with the magnitude of the game and allowed freedom for Inigo Calderon and Francis Fernandes to run riot inside BFC's half on the night.
However, the most bizzarre decision made by Roca was to leave out Udanta Singh and the youngster raised more questions as to why he shouldn't be playing every game when he came on and created a few good chances for his team.
#4 Chennaiyin were solid at the back
Bengaluru FC were in fine goal-scoring form leading up to this game and the main protagonist of their eye of for goal this season was none other than the club's leading goal-scorer Miku. The Venezuelan had already registered 6 goals in the competition and was pipped to add more to his tally on the night.
However, he came up against a resilient Chennaiyin defence that hardly gave him any room whatsoever to operate effectively in front of goal. In fact, Bengaluru could only register a single shot on target during the first half due to the heroics of Calderon, Mailson and Henrique Sereno.
Bengaluru came into the game as one of the most feared teams in the league but Chennaiyin's performance at the back propelled the visitor's to new heights eventually helping them gain bragging rights on the derby night.
# Dhanpal Ganesh - man of the moment
Dhanpal Ganesh, the local-boy hailing from Chennai, made the headlines in the first ever derby game between Bengaluru FC and Chennaiyin FC when he jumped high to head home the winner in the 87th minute for the visitors. It was a perfect header, helped on by an even better delivery from Rene Mihelic, which is sure to stay close to the midfielder's heart for a long time.
The 26-year-old was one of the most commanding figures on the field throughout the game and put in a defining shift for his side in midfield on the night. That's not the end of it and he was involved right in the heart of the fracas between the players late on in the second half.
Ganesh picked up a booking in the process shortly before emerging as the match-winner for his side on the other end of the field. The emergence of Ganesh, a local boy and an unlikely hero, as the match-winner for his side is the perfect example of why you should expect the unexpected in games like these.
