Chennaiyin FC 1 - 1 Bengaluru FC: 3 things we learned | ISL 2022-23

Chennaiyin FC played out a 1-1 draw against Bengaluru FC in Match 8 of the ISL 2022-23 at the Marina Arena in Chennai.

Both sides came into the game after securing victory in their previous game. Chennaiyin FC defeated ATK Mohun Bagan in their opening game. Bengaluru FC, on the other hand, beat NorthEast United FC in their first game of the season.

Chennaiyin FC were high on confidence after their superb performance in their last outing. The Blues from Bengaluru, though, wanted to showcase a better performance compared to their last game.

The game started with a bang as Bengaluru scored an early goal in the fourth minute. Roy Krishna beat his marker to head a Siva Narayanan cross into the goal.

Marina Machans did get some chances but failed to convert them. Gurpreet Singh Sandhu made some good saves to deny the hosts the equalizer. Prasanth, the new signing for Chennaiyin FC from Kerala Blasters, scored the equalizer in added time in the first half.

The scoreboard at halftime read 1-1.

Bengaluru FC made a change at halftime as Siva Narayanan made way for Jayesh Rane.

Both sides tried hard to take the lead, but neither team gave the other much space. Chennaiyin FC bought on the star of their previous game Kwame Karikari in the 72nd minute.

Bengaluru FC's goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu was the busier of the two keepers.

Debjit Mazumdar fouled Roy Krishna outside the box and was shown a red card for his offense.

The match ended in a 1-1 draw.

On that note, let's take a look at three things we learned from today's game.

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#3 A tale of two goalkeepers

Gurpreet Singh Sandhu had a good game (Image courtesy: AIFF Media)

Today's game can be best summed up by the line: A tale of two goalkeepers. Gurpreet Singh Sandhu had a fantastic game as he made some tremendous saves to keep Bengaluru FC in the game.

Debjit Majumder, on the other hand, faced just one shot on target and that was the shot from which Roy Krishna scored. Debjit didn't make any saves during the game. The only contribution the 34-year-old had during the game was to foul Roy Krishna, the foul that got him sent off.

Gurpreet made five saves, all of which were very crucial for his side. The Indian national team's No. 1 was a major reason why Bengaluru FC managed to secure a point today.

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#2 Bengaluru FC need to work on their defense

Roshan didn't have the best of games today (Image courtesy: ISL Media)

Bengaluru FC played a 3-4-3 formation with Alan Costa, Sandesh Jhingan, and Aleksandar Jovanovic playing as the central defenders. Prabir Das and Roshan Singh played as the wide wingbacks.

Costa, Jhingan and Jovanovic had problems throughout the game. The defensive unit of Bengaluru FC faced problems against NorthEast United in their first game, and the same happened today against Chennaiyin FC.

Their defensive shape was a big concern for the Blues from Bangalore and Chennaiyin FC had some great chances to finish the game but they failed to convert their chances.

The cohesion between the defense and midfield was also missing at times for the Blues from Bangalore.

Simon Grayson has a lot to do to get his side's defense in order.

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#1 Chennaiyin FC played Vafa Hakhamaneshi as keeper in the last eight minutes

Vafa played as the Keeper in the last few minutes (Image courtesy: ISL Social Media)

It's not every day that we see an outfield player playing as the goalkeeper. Today was such a day when we got to see it. Debjit Mazumdar fouled Roy Krishna outside the box and since it wasn't a penalty, resulted in the goalkeeper being shown a red card.

Chennaiyin FC did have a substitution in hand but were out of substitution slots as they utilized all three of them. The situation they were in meant that they had to play an outfield player as the goalkeeper for the last eight minutes plus added time.

In stepped Vafa Hakhamaneshi with the gloves. The Iranian centre-back looked calm and composed under the bar and managed to keep Bengaluru FC at bay.

There were some nervous moments for coach Thomas Brdaric on the bench, but Vafa was cool as a cucumber under the bar.