Chennayin FC coach John Gregory is not pleased with Bengaluru FC goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu's comments.
Chennaiyin FC were crowned champions for the second time in the Indian Super League (ISL) history after a valiant 3-2 comeback win against debutant Bengaluru FC at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium.
Their victory, however, was marred by some stinging comments from Bengaluru FC goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu.
Asked for his views after the final on Saturday, he said, "I want to thank the fans and I want to congratulate Chennaiyin FC for winning the final. But I believe we won the league phase and so we are the champions."
Unlike the major club football leagues around the world, ISL follows and IPL-style format, where playoffs are contested between the four teams who finish at the top of the points table in the league stage.
Chennayin coach John Gregory, natuarlly, was not pleased with Sandhu's comments. He said, "Playoffs were introduced back in the UK more than 20 years ago. You could finish 6th in the league and still get qualified for the playoffs, even though you finished 20 points behind... the format of playoffs is brilliant. I was disappointed in the words that he used. I think we got the cup, didn't we'"
Sunil Chhetri had opened the scoring for Bengaluru as early as the ninth minute but a brace from Mailson Alves and a beautiful goal from Raphael Augusto ensured that the unfancied Chennaiyin lifted the title once again after 2015.
Miku scored a late goal but it hardly mattered in the end. It took just nine minutes for the first goal and it was the usual suspect Chhetri who capitalised on a deflected cross from Udanta Singh to score a low header.
It was Alves who equalised just eight minutes after his side had gone behind. Chennaiyin's defenders were brilliant though, with Inigo Calderon making a heroic block when Dimas Delgado took a shot towards goal at the half an hour mark.
Chhetri and Miku both tried their luck from distance as the first half was coming to a close but Alves scored again to give Chennaiyin the lead at a crucial juncture. The turning point came in the 67th minute when Augusto fired a goal to leave Gurpreet Singh Sandhu with no chance at all. At 3-1, Bengaluru had no chance but to go all-out attack. Karanjit made a sharp save off Chhetri's header in the 74th minute.
Chhetri had a glorious opportunity to make the last few minutes exciting but he inexplicably blazed the ball over the bar with a couple of minutes left. Miku scored in added time though, converting from Udanta's cross, but it was too late by then. Chennaiyin ran down the clock and emerged champions.
(Inputs from ANI)
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