Bhubaneswar: I-League champions Chennai City FC underlined their might once again as they knocked holders Bengaluru FC out of the Super Cup with a 2-1 quarterfinal win at the Kalinga Stadium here on Thursday.A
Goals from Nestor Gordillo (15th) and Pedro Manzi (54th) put Chennai ahead before Sunil Chhetri – who had missed a penalty when the Blues were a goal down – nodded home from a corner (65th) to give Carles Cuadrat’s men a chance to claw back into the game.
Bengaluru ran into an inspired show from goalkeeper Mauro Boerchio who did more than just well to keep the ball out from hitting the back of his net on several occasions.Chennai, resorting to play the ball long, used the route to grab the opener in the 15th minute, but it was more to do with an error in the Bengaluru defence that let Gordillo score.A breakdown in communication between Harmanjot Khabra and Rahul Bheke in attempting to deal with a long punt, saw Gordillo capitalise and score past Gurpreet Singh Sandhu.
The Blues had chances in quick succession and then through the rest of the half, but much to Carles Cuadrat’s frustration, they didn’t manage to put anything away. Xisco Hernandez, Miku and Sunil Chhetri – all saw attempts on goal kept out by Mauro Boerchio in Chennai’s goal.Udanta Singh, on the right, was making life for the Chennai defenders rather uncomfortable, beating them with both pace and skill. (IANS)
