ISL 2024-25: Chennaiyin FC Fall to Narrow Defeat Against Bengaluru FC in Last Away Game
The Marina Machans will take on NorthEast United at home next in the penultimate game of regular season
Bengaluru, February 25, 2025: Chennaiyin FC fell to a 1-0 defeat against Bengaluru FC at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Tuesday in their final away game of the Indian Super League 2024-25 season.
With two games left, the defeat means the Marina Machans are mathematically out of the reckoning for the Playoffs.
Farukh Choudhary came into the starting eleven, replacing the outgoing Kiyan Nassiri. The attacker aside, head coach Owen Coyle went for the same team that beat East Bengal in the previous match, with Elsinho and Ryan Edwards marshalling the defence and Wilmar Jordan Gil leading the line.
The Marina Machans started with intent, applying some early pressure to the home side’s backline with well-worked passes onto the flanks. All the build-up gave way for a half-chance that fell to Irfan Yadwad three minutes before the half-hour mark, with the forward testing goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu from a tight angle. Shortly after, Jordan Gil got himself to the end of a Connor Shields cross, but couldn’t convert.
The hosts took the lead in the 37th minute when Rahul Bheke volleyed the ball past Mohammad Nawaz from a set-piece. Chennaiyin retaliated instantly, with Jordan Gil stinging Sandhu’s palms with a powerful drive from distance. Moments later, the Colombian forward thumped the ball goalward from a Shields’ cross, but his header missed the target by a whisker.
While the Marina Machans went looking for an equaliser after the interval, Nawaz kept things tight at his end. The goalkeeper provided a steady hand at the occasions when Bengaluru broke, making key stops in the 56th and the 71st minutes from close range.
Chasing the game, Coyle sent striker Daniel Chima Chukwu on. The Nigerian proved an immediate concern for the Bengaluru defence, seeing his effort blocked seconds after coming on. He later received the ball in the middle of the box from Irfan Yadwad, but couldn’t direct the ball home under close marking by the opposition defenders. On as a substitute, Lukas Brambilla went close to equalising with a volley in the 90th minute, but his effort glanced the side-netting.
With the away schedule wrapped, Chennaiyin will take on NorthEast United and Jamshedpur FC at the Marina Arena on March 3 and 9, respectively, to close out the regular season.
