CHENNAI, 28 Jan: Benga-luru FC beat Chennaiyin FC 3-1 in the Indian Super League here on Saturday.
Despite Chennaiyin FC starting the match brightly and displaying a strong attacking intent, Bengaluru FC struck thrice inside the first half.
The home side opened the scoring against the run of play when Roy Krishna’s long ball caught the visitors’ defence off guard and allowed Sivasakthi Narayanan to slot the ball home and put his side in front in the 15th minute.
Chennaiyin had the opportunity to equalise in the 20th minute when Ninthoinganba Meetel’s cross found Petar Sliskovic but his header narrowly missed the target.
Three minutes later, Narayan bagged his second of the match after taking advantage of the opposition’s defensive error in the 23rd minute and Rohit Kumar further added a third in the 30th minute to further extend the hosts before the break.
Chennaiyin’s decision of making three changes at half-time paid off as substitute Edwin Vanspaul pulled one goal back at the hour mark. Jiteshwor Singh played a smart pass to find Vanspaul who scored his first league goal of the ongoing season with a thumping left-footed finish in the top corner in the 59th minute.
This goal helped Che-nnaiyin gain momentum and their attacking surges saw them come close to scoring a second on multiple occasions. But they failed to find the back of the net as the southern derby finished in favour of Bengaluru FC. (PTI)