ISL 2023-24: Spirited Chennaiyin FC defeat Bengaluru FC 2-0 in southern derby

Rafael Crivellaro and Jordan Murray were on target as Chennaiyin FC registered an exciting 2-0 win against Bengaluru FC in the 2023-24 Indian Super League (ISL) match at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai on Wednesday.

The Marina Machans opened the scoring through a goal from Crivellaro in the sixth minute, while Murray found the back of the net in the 50th minute to take the home side inside top-6 of the points table with 12 points.

Chennaiyin made a frantic start to the match and earned a penalty in the sixth minute after Bengaluru's right-back Namgyal Bhutia touched the ball with hand inside the 18-yard box while attempting a header. Crivellaro then converted the penalty with a left-footed shot to the bottom right corner.

The midfielder got another opportunity the very next minute from outside the box. However, this time, Bengaluru's goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu made a fine save to deny a goal. Ayush Adhikari's attempt just missed the right side of the post in the 23rd minute before Murray found himself in the centre of the action and hit a shot on target.

Sandhu had to make another save in the top left corner in the 37th minute when Vincy Barretto hit a ferocious shot from the left side of the box. Chennaiyin's goalkeeper Debjit Majumder was called into action on the verge of halftime as he saved a header from Aleksandar Jovanovic in the 40th minute.

The second half began on a positive note for the home side as Crivellaro drew a foul inside the box and refree pointed to the penalty spot before Murray found the back of the net with an attempt in the bottom left corner.

Bengaluru intensified their search for a goal after getting two down and Suresh Wangjam hit the side-netting in the 64th minute of the contest. Sunil Chhetri's attempt missed the left side of the goal as well.

Majumder was on top of his game in the last 10 minutes, making two fine saves on attempts by Sivasakthi Narayanan in the 80th and 83rd minutes to keep a clean sheet in the match.

Chennaiyin FC will now face Punjab FC away from home on Monday, 18 December, while Bengaluru FC will take on Jamshedpur FC on Saturday, 16 December.