In what was a repeat of last season’s final at the same venue, Miku’s 41st minute strike was enough for the ‘Blues’ to overcome the visitor’s challenge. CFC will be disappointed as it got nothing out of the game, particularly after it was gifted two gild-edge chances to take the lead.

Bengaluru, though, was quick to get off the blocks with Eric Paartalu being gifted an excellent chance as early as the third minute. After some scrappy play in the Chennaiyin box following a throw-in by Rahul Bheke, the loose ball fell to the Australian midfielder’s feet but his snap shot was aimed straight at goalkeeper Karanjit Singh.

The visitor started to gain a foothold through its quick breaks as the minutes wore on and it should have drawn first blood midway into the game. Gregory Nelson and Jeje Lalpekhlua broke at pace following an error by Bheke and Nelson’s perfectly threaded through ball left the India striker one-on-one with Gurpreet Singh Sandhu. As the Bengaluru goalkeeper rushed forward, Jeje slotted the ball for a completely unmarked Germanpreet Singh but his pass was over-hit with the Chennaiyin midfielder unable to direct it towards an empty goal.

Another Bheke mistake around the half an hour mark almost gifted Chennaiyin with a goal after his poor back-pass was intercepted by Jeje. The off-balance Chennaiyin forward had only Gurpreet to beat but lost his footing. Gurpreet then pulled off a fine save from a long-distance effort by Germanpreet before Bengaluru took the lead against the run of play.

Xisco Hernandez won the ball following a midfield scrap and quickly released Miku behind the CFC defence with a perfectly weighted pass. The striker unleashed a thunderbolt of a shot which, despite being aimed at Karanjit’s near post, left the Chennaiyin goalkeeper with no chance.

 The visitor came close to grabbing an equaliser straight after the interval following a long-throw into the Bengaluru box. The resulting loose ball fell to Inigo Calderon at the edge of the box whose blocked shot fell to Eli Sabia with his back to goal. The central defender’s clever back heel unfortunately was directed straight to the rival goalkeeper.

The visitor took the game to the opposition in the second period with Bengaluru looking dangerous on the break. John Gregory threw caution to the wind in the closing stages by bringing on striker Carlos Salom for defender Mailson Alves. But while Chennaiyin threw the kitchen sink, the host held on to its lead.