Opportunity lost for Chennaiyin FC against Bengaluru

CHENNAI: They say that the story of a football match can often be found in a few of the 90 minutes that it’s played out over. For Chennaiyin FC’s Sunday encounter against Bengaluru FC at JN Stadium, those were minutes 79 to 81. At the beginning of that spell, after the two ‘Blues’ had cancelled each other out for most of the match, Maltese attacker Andre Schembri found himself with a chance to win it. Teammate Rafael Crivellaro had spotted him in the middle of the Bengaluru box, inexplicably unmarked, and found him with a brilliant ball. Schembri did the first bit right.

He more or less dodged the onrushing Bengaluru custodian Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, who managed to get only the slightest of touches. The ball was making its way inside and Chennaiyin fans were getting ready to celebrate. Then, out of nowhere, Rahul Bheke slid in and cleared, a couple of inches ahead of the goalline. Opportunity lost! Then, the ensuing counter saw a ball from midfield find Bengaluru attacker Semboi Haokip, well clear of any Chennaiyin defenders. He only had the goalkeeper to beat and did just that, firing a low shot to the right of the advancing Vishal Kaith. But he only managed to strike the post and had to watch on helplessly as the rebound was cleared. Opportunity lost!

Chennaiyin and Bengaluru will probably describe the 0-0 draw as exactly that — an opportunity lost. Both needed the win. Bengaluru will have to win their remaining two games and hope Goa and ATK lose their remaining games to have any chance of grabbing an AFC competition spot. Chennaiyin will have to beat Mumbai City FC — a draw there coupled with a loss to league leaders ATK will put them out of the competition. Both would have thought the other was there for the taking. Whether by injury or deliberate design, Bengaluru were missing Sunil Chhetri. Chennaiyin had their best Indian player in Anirudh Thapa missing due to suspension. Afghan Masih Saighani replaced him in midfield and underwhelmed.

The match was more or less played outside the two penalty boxes with only the occasional shots on target. Both teams had three all match and Bengaluru took until the half-hour mark to find one. Thapa’s absence and the inclusion of Saighani had necessitated that Schembri stay on the bench until late in the game. That messed up the attacking rhythm that Chennaiyin had found in their recent matches and Nerijus Valskis was starved of service. Outside that three-minute interval, the talking points came in the form of a couple of cards. One was Chennaiyin’s Thoi Singh getting a second yellow for a seemingly innocuous foul. The other was Chhetri marching on to the field after the game to protest referee Crystal John’s decision and receiving a yellows. That will see Chhetri suspended for the next match.