ISL 2018-19 Live Commentary: Bengaluru FC Vs Chennaiyin FC

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                                        Miku (41')

 

Also Read: Bengaluru Vs Chennaiyin Pre-Match: John Gregory sees opportunity in Dhanpal injury, Cuadrat out to set record straight

FT: Bengaluru FC 1-0 Chennaiyin FC. Bengaluru FC steals the win after Chennaiyin FC failed to capitalise on their good play in the first half. Three points, clean-sheet despite being average for most parts of the game, Bengaluru Fc would have to do a lot better than this in the coming games. Chennaiyin FC, on the other hand, were toothless and sloppy in the second half. 

90+3': Substitution:

Miku makes way for Thongkosiem Haokip.

90': Four minutes have been added. Chennaiyin are in dire need of an equaliser and keep pushing men forward for it.

88': Substitution:

Udanta Singh makes way for Boithang Haokip.

86': Chennaiyin, desperate for a goal, push four men in the box and keep flowing crosses. The scenes have only worsen for the Chennaiyin, given the very few minutes they have.

82': Inigo Calderon wins a freekick and takes it. Sails it over the bar. The visitors have failed to repeat the first half performance. They have been not even close to it.

77': Substitution:

Carlos Salom joins in, replacing Mailson Alves. An attacking move.

76': The resultant free-kick was taken very well by Jerry who missed the goal of Gurpreet by a few inches.

75': Substitution:

Chencho comes in for Xisco Fernandez.

74': Yellow! Nishu Kumar momentarily brings Francisco Fernandes down to get into the books of the referee.

72': Inigo Calderon denies Chhetri his goal!! A run from Udanta and a perfectly timed cross into the box meet the Indian captain but the veteran defender doesn't let the Indian captain take a shot. great defending at a very critical moment from the rightback.

67': Bengaluru Fc are playing some top-level football down on the left flank thanks to Nishu Kumar and the Indian captain. Chhetri and Bengaluru look dangerous while on a move.

64': Bengaluru FC have come alive and at the best time. The Blues look solid while making a move forward and a second is on the cards for them.

63': The more Chennaiyin have to wait for the equaliser, the more they will get frustrated. The signs of frustration can already be seen as Jerry, who's already been booked, makes another unnecessary challenge. Going one man down would only worsen the situation for the club from Chennai.

60': Substitution:

Anirudh Thapa comes in, finally, for Isaac Vanmalsawma.

58': Yellow! Another great long ball for Miku sees him making a run and to deny the forward a chance surge forward, Jerry is forced to foul him. The referee books him for the foul.

56': One big miss of the game so far has been the exclusion of much talked Anirudh Thapa from the Chennaiyin FC's lineup. The midfielder played a pivotal role in India's run at the Intercontinental Cup.

52': Sunil Chhetri has been so far kept quiet. White Udanta Singh, Xisco and Miku have had their moments of the game, the fans are yet to see something from the Indian national skipper. It would be hard for Chennaiyin to keep him quiet for too long and the Indian captain boasts the feet of having scored in every game played against them. 

48': Chennaiyin start the second half on an aggressive note and push men forward winning free-kick in a dangerous position. Bengaluru deal with them with ease.

HT: Bengaluru lead courtesy of a moment of individual brilliance by Miku. Chennaiyin would be reuing those two chances missed earlier but would also take heart from their performance so far. The travellers look more like the home team at the moment and if Bengaluru doesn't rise to the occasion, it would be difficult for the Blues to get all the three points from the game. Chennaiyin can score at any moment, as it stands.

45': Chennaiyin must be feeling hard done by luck after playing so well for most parts of the first half. Two easy chances not converted, and then conceding on a half-chance, Chennaiyin have every right to blame their luck for it. But we all know, it has always been about who converts the chances and not the one who creates it.

42': Xisco saw the run of Miku and teed him up with a well weighted pass and Miku does the rest.

41': GOOOAAAALLL!! Almost out of nowhere Bengaluru FC lead. And it's again their Venezuelan striker Miku who finds the back of the net.

39': It's all chaotic defending from Bengaluru FC as Rahul Bheke fouls Gregory Nelson near the box. The resultant free-kick is punched well by Gurpreet. Bengaluru FC doesn't look good.

36': Save! First real shot on the target and Gurpreet deals with it calmly. Nishu Kumar miscues a pass only to allow Germanpreet have a good shot on target.

35': Yellow! Harmanjot Singh Khabra gets into the bookings for a mistimed challenge on Isaac.

33': And aggaaaiinnn!! Jeje is again the villain for the travelling side after he gets hold of a sloppy back pass from Rahul Bheke in a one on one situation with Gurpreet. But the striker fails to make the opportunity count and wastes the ball.

30': Bengaluru FC had the most time of all together as a team and yet the runner-ups of previous season have failed to stamp their authority on the game. It's all Chennaiyin at the moment. Limited possession, and even limited chances. 

28': The pace of the game has slowed down and the home team looks happy to let Chennaiyin enjoy the possession of ball.

24': Chennaiyin finally have found the foot in the game and are attacking more than the home side at the moment. But with the Blues having the pace of Chhetri and Udanta on the wings, its hard to say who would score first. What's sure is that, someone would.

22': Poor decision making by Udanta after a beautiful run nullifies all the good work done by him. Catches Miku offside when could have passed it to Bheke.

20': Chennaiyin would rue the missed chance as they don't score much often. The defending champions scored the least last season.

19': This has to go as a miss! Chennaiyin find themselves in a 2v1 situation with only Gurpreet Singh Sandhu to beat after a bleitzkrig counter attack. Jeje's final pass is wastefull though.

18': Jerry gets caught behind by Udanta and the 'Indian flash' makes a run into the box. Jerry recovers well to deny Udanta a chance to shoot. 

15': Nishu Kumar and Inigo Calderon battle on the flanks with Inigo Calderon winning the first two deuls. The veteran defender denied the young fullback to go past him after the Bengaluru FC left back received a long ball from Partaalu. Then the Spanish fullback wins his team a corner down on the other end.

11': Germanpreet brings Xisco down and the Spanish midfielder asks for a booking for the youngster. The referee isn't interested though.

9': Both the teams are trying to see a few moments with the possession of the ball. But neither of them could make anything out of it.

6': Raphael Augusto is down and in pain after getting tackled by Juanan, needs the attention of the medical staff.

5': The pressing game of Bengaluru has not allowed Chennaiyin make any move forward. Bengaluru Fc recover the ball as soon as they lose it.

2': Bengaluru FC pressing high, forcing Chennaiyin deep into their defensive half. Erik Partaalu had a chance to break the deadlock very early after he found the ball with only Karanjit to beat. The shot was saved.

1': And it's kick-off.

7:28 PM: And of course, the team photos...

7:25 PM: The teams have come on the field for the national anthem. Only a few moments and we will see the two biggies of Indian football going at loggerheads with each other.

7:20 PM: Bengaluru FC were heavily dependent on the attacking troika of Sunil Chhetri, Miku and Udanta Singh while Chennaiyin FC had eleven different scorers with Jeje Lalpekhlua being the top scorer amongst them. 

7:10 PM: The lineups of the two teams are...

Bengaluru FC: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (GK), Rahul Bheke, Albert Serran, Juanan, Harmanjot Khabra, Erik Paartalu, Xisco Hernandez, Nishu Kumar, Udanta Singh, Miku, Sunil Chhetri (C).

Chennaiyin FC: Karanjit Singh (GK), Eli Sabia, Inigo Calderon, Jerry Lalrinzuala, Mailson Alves (C), Gregory Nelson, Raphael Augusto, Isaac Vanmalsawma, Germanpreet Singh, Francisco Fernandes, Jeje Lalpekhlua.

Both the teams start with a 4-2-3-1 formation, at least on papers.

7:05 PM: Bengaluru FC have revenge on their minds. Bengaluru FC coach Carlos wants to end the poor run of results of Bengaluru FC against the defending champions Chennaiyin. He has of his and of his players' sleeves rolled up and doesn't look to settle for anything less than three points. Chennaiyin FC, on the other hand, are high on confidence and would look to start their campaign by repeating the final's result. Definitely, the game is going to be a cracker!

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7:00 PM Hello everyone. It is a wonderful evening here in Bengaluru and it is a delight to host the ISL Season 5 fixture between last year's finalists Bengaluru FC and Chennaiyin FC here at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium. Both sets of players are already in the venue and are just waiting to get on the pitch to kick off their respective campaigns on a high note. The weather here is just perfect for a high voltage football game between the two Indian Super League behemoths. Stay tuned and enjoy the commentary with Khel Now Football!

Match Preview: ISL Gameweek 1 Preview: Traditional rivals set to clash as new season kicks-off