Tag: Chennaiyin FC

by Abhishek Shukla

Bengaluru FC climb to 6th spot with crucial win against Chennaiyin FC

Bengaluru, 7 February, 2024: Bengaluru FC sealed a 1-0 victory over Chennaiyin FC as the Southern Derby titled in favour of the Blues at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in the Indian Super League (ISL) 2023-24 tonight. A second-half strike by Ryan Williams was enough for Gerard Zaragoza and his side to triumph over the visitors in a clash that they dominated from the offset, and held an upper hand to a greater extent than suggested by the scoreline.

Zaragoza had claimed ahead of the game that he had almost a month’s time to train with this squad after taking over the reins from his predecessor Simon Grayson in December. The tactician hoped that the work put in the practice sessions would reflect on the field, but all of that expectation was squandered in their 3-1 loss to Punjab FC in New Delhi.

They needed a strong response and got one tonight with the team functioning in coordination and cohesion to build consistent pressure over the Marina Machans. From skipper Sunil Chhetri and Javi Hernandez combining for the former to attempt a shot from a unique set-piece to the latter trying his luck from the edge of the box – the first-half comprised a lot of entertaining action for the supporters at the Kanteerava.

Unfortunately, those efforts weren’t bearing tangible results, and hence the talk in their dressing room must have been to keep doing what they had been doing right so that Coyle’s team could eventually be cracked. Encounters like these are often decided by fine margins and hence it appeared that Scottish striker Connor Shields could swing the game against the momentum when he tested Gurpreet Singh Sandhu from the left hand side of the 18-yard box merely minutes into the second half. However, decisiveness and certain efficiency was lacking in his endeavour, resulting in his team giving away an excellent opportunity to get an early lead.

Bengaluru FC got their act together straightaway, slowly pulling the strings to ensure that their efforts from the opening essay of the game didn’t go to waste. Chhetri and youngster Harsh Patre took a shot each from either side of the box soon afterwards, but the Chennaiyin FC backline got back just in time to avoid trouble. Unfortunately, they could not do so when Williams was set up with a beautiful through ball by Halicharan Narzary through the centre in the 62nd minute. Williams showed remarkable composure to put the ball past Debjit Majumder and prevent Chennaiyin FC from doing the double over Bengaluru FC this season.

Key Performer of the Match

Ryan Williams (Bengaluru FC)

Williams tackled thrice, crossed five times, and created one goal-scoring opportunity, in addition to completing 14 of his 17 attempted passes. However, his calm headedness inside the box was laudable as he beat Majumder with a sweet strike to secure three points for the home team.

What’s next for both teams?

Bengaluru FC will play Jamshedpur FC on February 11, whereas Chennaiyin FC will be clashing against Kerala Blasters FC on February 16 for their forthcoming fixture.

Brief Scores

Bengaluru FC 1 (Ryan Williams 62’) – 0 Chennaiyin FC

Stats Pack:

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by Abhishek Shukla

Bengaluru FC, Chennaiyin FC embark on pursuit of a playoff spot with the Southern Derby

Bengaluru, February 06: Bengaluru FC will host Chennaiyin FC at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium as the southern rivals restart their bid to reignite their ambitions of the Indian Super League (ISL) 2023-24 season. Kicking off at 7:30 p.m. (IST), this is a fixture that has always excited fans and supporters alike, due to the background significance attached to both the sides. The two sides had clashed in the final in the first campaign that Bengaluru FC competed in the ISL, i.e. 2017-18.

The Marina Machans had gotten the better of them in a thrilling 3-2 clash back then, and since then, this duel has taken many a turn, producing one entertaining encounter after another. However, right now, both sides are in similarly challenging circumstances. The Blues would have hoped for a happy start since the resumption of the season, but they ended up losing 3-1 to Punjab FC.

They ended up squandering a one-goal lead away from home, which will raise concerns for Gerard Zaragoza, especially because the club has invested in strengthening the defence in the winter transfer window through the acquisitions of Nikhil Poojary and Chinglensana Singh. Chennaiyin FC got Mobashir Rahman on loan, but it is widely perceived that they needed more incomings to build upon the first leg of the campaign that saw their team winning 12 points in as many games.

What’s at stake?

Bengaluru FC

Bengaluru FC has made a remarkable statement in the transfer market, and the time has come for the head coach and the whole squad to live up the expectations of the fans as well as the owners. What’s startling to the supporters is that the team that made it to the ISL final last year cannot be struggling to find form, regardless of the departures. They boast of an incredible record against the Marina Machans, having defeated them seven times across the ISL seasons.

Chennaiyin FC

Chennaiyin FC won three matches in the opening leg of the campaign, and one of them was when they beat Bengaluru FC by 2-0 at home. The Marina Machans have in fact never won twice consecutively in this fixture in the past, and Owen Coyle must be aiming to bring curtains down to that run after getting a good month-long time to refine his squad and imprint his coaching style on them.  The coach needs to plug some leakages in the back, having conceded 22 goals in 12 matches, only second behind Hyderabad FC, who have given away 24 strikes.

They have found the back of the net 15 times and are gifted with some really promising forwards in Jordan Murray, Rafael Crivellaro, Connor Shields amongst others. When on song, the trio is capable of running circles around any backline, and the new additions in the Bengaluru FC ranks thus have a task up their hands now. A sense of cohesion has been lacking in their setup off late, with all the departments being unable to click simultaneously. This has resulted in them dropping points when they could get all three of them. Hence, Coyle must be hoping that the start of the second half of the season is a mark of new beginnings for them.

Key Players

Oliver Drost (Bengaluru FC)

Bengaluru FC also roped in 28-year-old Danish forward Oliver Drost to replace the outgoing Curtis Main in the winter transfer market. Drost is a bit of an unknown commodity in the Indian footballing circuit, and that bit of unfamiliarity about him could help him spring a surprise in this crucial fixture. He has played in Denmark for most of his professional career and is deemed to be a quick operator in the final third. The Blues can do with some fresh legs that can trouble the opposition’s backline. He will be hoping to strike a good partnership with key players like Sunil Chhetri and Javi Hernandez, but whether Drost has it in him to be a key architect behind a possible turnaround for Bengaluru FC this year will be closely watched.

Ninthoinganba Meetei (Chennaiyin FC)

Ninthoinganba Meetei has been one of the promising players who have broken through the ranks to really shine under the tutelage of Coyle in Chennaiyin FC this season. He averages 61.7 minutes on the field per game and has netted twice in nine appearances in ISL 2023-24. The 22-year-old limits his involvement in the final third, averages 14 passes every 90 minutes, and has created nine goal-scoring opportunities. He has a burst of pace that comes in handy whilst catching the opposition off-guard inside their penalty box. He is also adept at drawing fouls from dangerous positions, and 75% of his shots have landed on target. There is some efficiency in his gameplay that helps him convert most of the chances that he creates or the ones that come his way. On that note, one can expect him to play an important role at the Kanteerava in the coming game.

Head-to-Head

Played – 14

Bengaluru FC – 7

Chennaiyin FC – 4

Draws – 3

Team Talk

“Of course, you need to change the mood after the loss. When we lost one game, for which we travelled to Delhi, we played at 5:30pm, so everything was fast, and then we came home and the players were tired. We knew we had a game in three days. We need to work with them to change this mood. We forget the last game. We always look to work. Chennaiyin FC is coming and they are in this battle for the sixth position, and I can say that we are hungry, all of us want to fight till the last moment,” Bengaluru FC head coach Gerard Zaragoza said in the pre-match press conference.

“We know we go into the second half of the season with six games at home and four away. It’s a great opportunity for us to make it to the playoffs. We need to make sure that we are in the top-six. Everything is in our own hands. We decide our own fate. We are excited and looking forward to that,” Chennaiyin FC head coach Owen Coyle mentioned prior to the game.

Fans across the country can catch the action in English, Hindi, Bengali, and Malayalam. Fans can watch the action on linear channels like Sports18 Khel (Hindi), Sports18 1 HD (English), Sports18 3 SD (English, Hindi, Malayalam and Bengali), VH1 SD & HD (English), Surya Movies (Malayalam), News 18 Kerala (Malayalam – select matches) & DD Bangla (Bengali). Fans can also catch the action streaming Live for free on JioCinema, the home of Indian football. In addition to this, as part of FSDL’s partnership with OneFootball, ISL live streams and highlights of all matches of the upcoming 2023-24 season will be delivered across more than 190 countries.

Points Table

by Abhishek Shukla

Zaragoza: Bengaluru FC fans are the fire in our veins, we need to bring joy to them

Bengaluru FC head coach Gerard Zaragoza believes that the Blues need to spark a turnaround and play an attractive brand of football primarily to bring happiness back to their beloved supporters. The team is gearing up to host their southern rivals Chennaiyin FC at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on February 7, Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. (IST). Zaragoza shares a special connection with the club, as he was the assistant to Carles Cuadrat when they won the title in 2018-19.

“We need to ensure that fans enjoy the price that they pay for our tickets”

Since then, he has coached in Greece and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), but Zaragoza fondly remembers the sheer passion of the BFC faithful, and his straightforward objective at the moment is to give a memorable experience to the supporters flocking the stands in their home games.

“We are going day by day, match by match, this is a process. The only thing we want to do is to bring joy to our supporters. They are too important for us. They are the fire in our veins. When we are in the changing room and we go outside and listen to them, it’s amazing. The players know that not just the players, even when the other clubs come to the Kanteerava, they know the importance of our supporters. They pay a ticket to come to us, and when they go home, they need to say, ‘We enjoyed today’. This is the most important thing,” Zaragoza said.

Bengaluru FC saw some significant departures in the summer, most important, Udanta Singh and Sandesh Jhingan leaving for FC Goa. That surely took a hit on the club, as acknowledged by former head coach Simon Grayson before he was relieved from his duties. Throughout his career, he has coached in Spain, Georgia, UAE, Qatar, Greece, and India. The Blues are accordingly in a phase of transition this season, and Zaragoza is acknowledging the fact that he cannot burden the team with his demands straightaway. He understands that he needs to spend some time getting the current squad adapted with his ideas, and hence has adopted a pragmatic approach of finding a middle ground that works in the best interests of all stakeholders involved.

“We will see a nice change at BFC in a few months”

“It is something that I have learned from all the countries I have worked in. You need to have the capacity to adapt to the new country, new club, and new players. For me, in my style of life, I have a style of football, and I have these players, and I need to try to arrive in the middle and we have to try to arrive in the middle. That means that the players we have are the best at the moment. We are going to work hard,” Zaragoza said.

“We are on the right wave. We have a lot of young talented players who are knocking at the door and I am sure that we will see a nice change in a few weeks or months,” he added.

There is a sense of familiarity for Zaragoza at Bengaluru FC, primarily because of his former association with the club. Albert Roca is the technical consultant for the Blues, and he naturally had a key role to play in bringing Zaragoza back to the club. He is also in good touch with his former head coach Cuadrat, who is at the helm of East Bengal FC at the moment. He insists that his style of football is concerned with maintaining complete control over the proceedings.

“I know what Albert Roca means for the BFC and the city”

“I know what Albert Roca means for the BFC and the city. We have been friends for a long time. From when I was with Carles, we always said that maybe one day we will work together. We were always in touch, not only about BFC, but about football in general. I am a type of person that likes to have control over everything and in football, of course. I like to take control of the game, it means whether we have the ball or not, we control the situation. But this is a process that needs time to work, and needs the players to understand too,” Zaragoza said.

Whilst the campaign must not have resumed on the best of notes for the Blues, as the head coach said, they must be taking belief and confidence in returning to their base at the Sree Kanteerava. Their clashes against Chennaiyin FC have always produced fireworks, starting from their maiden final encounter in the 2017-18 season, where the Marina Machans triumphed. With both teams in the quest of a much-needed win, one can expect this match to be a terrific entertainer for the fans.

Where to Watch

Fans across the country can catch the action in English, Hindi, Bengali, and Malayalam. Fans can watch the action on linear channels like Sports18 Khel (Hindi), Sports18 1 HD (English), Sports18 3 SD (English, Hindi, Malayalam and Bengali), VH1 SD & HD (English), Surya Movies (Malayalam), News 18 Kerala (Malayalam – select matches) & DD Bangla (Bengali). In addition to this, as part of FSDL’s partnership with OneFootball, ISL live streams and highlights of all matches of the upcoming 2023-24 season will be delivered across more than 190 countries.

by Abhishek Shukla

Chennaiyin aims to grab playoffs spot, asserts head coach Coyle ahead of Southern Derby

Chennai, January 5, 2023: Chennaiyin FC are ready to face Bengaluru FC in the Indian Super League (ISL) 2023-24 on Wednesday at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru after a two-week break and head coach Owen Coyle asserted that the team’s sole focus is to qualify for the playoffs.

The Marina Machans had a comfortable 2-0 win when they faced Bengaluru FC previously in the league this season and will look to register another victory in the southern derby. They are currently sitting in ninth position in the points table with a total of 12 points. 

“It’s great to come back fresh and ready to go as we move into the second half of the season. We have six games at home, four away and with a great opportunity to be in the playoffs. Our aim is to make sure that we move to the top six and everything’s in our own hands, we will decide our own fate. So, we are excited and looking forward to the upcoming match against Bengaluru FC,” commented head coach Owen Coyle ahead of the match.

He added, “We’ll look to pick the best team available and go to Bengaluru. We will try to do the double, having already beaten them in Chennai in the league game and we take valuable three points which would take us into the top six straight away. So whatever happens even coming out of the Bangalore game, everything’s in our own hands. Within the club we always feel that we want to be fighting out for playoffs and championships and to do that, you have to get yourself now in that top six and that’s what we have to do.”

Chennaiyin are coming into the game after a break and forward Ninthoinganba Meetei stated that the players worked hard on their finishing in training during the last two weeks.

Ninthoi said, “Actually, the break was really important for us. Two weeks after the Super Cup, we worked really hard and the training went well and we followed the process doing a lot of conditioning and finishing. The team is focused on the upcoming match against Bengaluru FC. In the matches we work really hard but miss the key opportunities, so we worked on it during the break.”

Chennaiyin and Bengaluru have contested 14 matches in the ISL, with the Marina Machans securing victories in four games, while Bengaluru FC emerged triumphant in seven.

The match will begin at 8 PM IST as the fans can watch the action live on Viacom18 and JioCinema.

Head-to-head:

Matches: 14, CFC: 4, BFC: 7, Draw: 3