Ratings: Sivasakthi shines as Bengaluru cruise past Chennaiyin FC

The winger now has four goals in the ISL this season.

Bengaluru FC hit Chennaiyin thrice in a trice to seal their fourth straight victory. An early brace from the mercurial Sivasakthi rocked Chennaiyin, and Rohit Kumar’s third goal provided the Blues with a comfortable cushion heading into half-time. 

Thomas Brdaric made three changes at lemon break, but the back-line stood firm despite persistent pressure from the visitors. Bengaluru FC climb up to sixth, having played two more games than Odisha FC who slip to seventh. Edwin Vanspaul curled in Chennaiyin’s only goal at the hour mark, but BFC stood firm to seal full points at home. 

Here are the player ratings for both teams.

Bengaluru FC (By Sathvik Bharadwaj)

Gurpreet Singh Sandhu - 6

Was a spectator in the first half. Made a good save to deny Ninthoi Meetei from point-blank range. 

Prabir Das - 6

Stuck close to Ninthoi and did not allow Aakash Sangwan space to bomb down. 

Parag Shrivas - 6.5

Handled the physicality of both Petar Sliskovic and Kwame Karikari pretty well during their respective shifts. 

Sandesh Jhingan - 6.5

Nervy beginning with some miscued clearances. Blocked a goal-bound shot from Ninthoi just before half-time and made nine clearances throughout the game.

Alan Costa - 7.5

Composed display as left centre-back. Was put under the pump in the second half, but dealt with the Chennaiyin forays.

Naorem Roshan Singh - 6

Had a largely quiet game, as he was isolated out wide while Parag tucked in centrally.   

Suresh Singh Wangjam - 7.5

Marked Thapa to good effect and maneuvered the ball well in midfield with an 83% success rate.

Javi Hernandez - 7

Set-piece delivery from his left leg was dangerous again. Was posted a bit deeper to win second balls. Replaced by Danish Farooq.

Rohit Kumar - 7

Continued his goal-scoring streak by beating Julius Duker and sliding a shot past the keeper. Lost the ball in the build-up to Vanspaul’s goal.

Roy Krishna - 9

Held up play with renewed confidence. Passing was crisp and purposeful and was a constant menace while drifting out wide. Got an assist.

Sivasakthi Narayanan - 9

Scored both goals with monk-like composure and stretched Chennaiyin FC's centre-back pairing with his runs both with and without the ball. The second goal was all his work, stealing the ball from Jiteshwor Singh and coming up with a deft chip over keeper Samik Mitra. 

Substitutes

Udanta Singh - 6

Provided fresh limbs out wide.

Bruno Ramires - 7

Made his return from injury and registered a shot on the volley that was saved brilliantly. 

Pablo Perez - 6

Clever with his flick-ons.

Danish Farooq - N/A

Chennaiyin FC (By Keshava Verma)

Samik Mitra – 5

Chennaiyin’s keeper had a night to forget. Mitra conceded three goals from 1v1 situations, and made two huge mistakes, with one resulting in his team conceding a goal.

Ajith Kumar – 6.5

Despite his mispositioning in the build-up that led to Bengaluru FC’s first goal, Ajith was solid in the right-back position, and won eight ground duels and had a total of six interceptions and tackles, respectively.

Fallou Diagne – 6

The Senegalese made an important goal-line clearance to deny Bengaluru FC their fourth goal in the first half. Other than that, Diagne had a poor game, and was substituted in the beginning of the second half.

Vafa Hakhamaneshi – 6

The Iranian centre back had a horrific first half. Vafa was not at all impressive with his positioning and was easily exploited by Bengaluru’s forwards. The player did well in the second half though.

Aakash Sangwan– 6.5

Sangwan was instrumental the entire evening. The 27-year-old had a 79% passing accuracy, and played a total of 10 long balls in his quest of creating chances for Petar Sliskovic.

Jiteshwor Singh – 6.5

Despite his huge mistake that led to a goal, Jiteshwor bounced back strongly and was much better in the second half. He also assisted Chennaiyin’s only goal, and was solid in the heart of midfield.

Julius Duker – 6

Duker was industrious in the middle of the park. He won a number of aerial and ground duels, and made three interceptions and a couple of great tackles before being subbed off in the 80th minute.

Ninthoi Meetei – 7.5

Ninthoi was undoubtedly Chennaiyin’s best player tonight. The player was creative in the wings, and was constantly creating chances with his immense speed and top-notch dribbling.

Anirudh Thapa – 6

Chennaiyin’s captain had a night to forget. The 25-year-old was benched at the end of the first half, after he made zero key passes, had no accurate cross into the box and failed to impress the head coach.

Vincy Barretto – 6.5

Vincy was one of the most impressive players for Chennaiyin in the first half and was confident with his passing. He played two good crosses into the box, and was a constant source of danger.

Petar Sliskovic – 6

Sliskovic had no shots on target and was very unimpressive.

Substitutes

Edwin Sydney Vanspaul – 7

Vanspaul had a great game after he came on in the second half. The midfielder scored Chennaiyin’s solitary goal and had a few great chances in front of goal.

Kwame Karikari – 7

Karikari added a lot more confidence to Chennaiyin FC’s attack after coming on at the onset of the second half. The Ghanaian played two key passes and was great with his passing in tight spaces.

Gurmukh Singh – 6.5

Gurmukh added a lot more stability and organization in the defence. Thanks to Gurmukh’s great performance, Bengaluru registered only a single shot on target in the second half.

Rahim Ali – 6.5

Rahim was clinical in the 17 minutes he played, and had an 88% passing accuracy. However, he was unfortunately unable to get a clear chance at goal.

Nasser El Khayati-7.5

Chennaiyin looked a lot more dangerous with El Khayati on the field. The Moroccan was certainly a great inclusion as he made three key passes in the nine minutes he had.