BENGALURU: An Indian front three in an ISL match isn’t something people are accustomed to. Coaches in India in both ISL and I-League have rarely trusted an Indian forward line. Indian forwards have played second fiddle to foreign recruits.But on Sunday, ISL witnessed something unique when Carles Cuadrat decided to bench Manuel Onwu and started with Sunil Chhetri, Udanta Singh and Ashique Kuruniyan — the national team forward line. And it yielded immediate results as the defending champions Bengaluru eased past southern rivals Chennaiyin FC 3-0 to register their first victory of the season, at Sree Kanteerava Stadium.
Bengaluru came into the game to get back on track before the international break. They had drawn all three games and scored only once. On Sunday, they were a different unit. Inside the first 10 minutes, Bengaluru created four chances and should have been ahead. Their Indian forward line, supported well by Brazilian midfielder Raphael Augusto, dominated Chennaiyin. It took them only 14 minutes to score. From the corner, Dimas Delgado sent in a lovely ball and Erik Paartalu, who made a comeback after a long injury lay-off, headed home.
Chennaiyin’s sluggish defence and poor passing left the door open for Bengaluru to exploit. Chhetri opened his account this season in the 25th minute. Augusto played a fine through ball. Chhetri collected the ball, beat Chennaiyin keeper Vishal Kaith in the near post to make it 2-0. At half-time, the stats proved how dominating Bengaluru were. The hosts had created 12 chances compared to the visitors’ two.
Chennaiyin, who had started with the fourth new attacking combination in as many games, were much better in the second, showing more purpose with the ball. Dhanpal Ganesh had a chance to reduce the deficit five minutes into the second half. Rafael Crivellaro’s corner found Ganesh at the far post and all he needed was to head it in but he was off target.
Chennaiyin coach John Gregory found a chance to take advantage of the momentum and brought in Lallianzuala Chhangte. While he added pace to the attack, it wasn’t enough.Bengaluru, who slowed down in the second half, scored another in the 84th minute through substitute Thongkhosiem Haokip to make it 3-0.
“We can’t continue like this,” said Gregory. “It’s time I sit down with the owners and have a deeper conversation about the future. I have never worked hard like this before without any improvement. In the current situation, it doesn’t seem like we would pick up as many points. So, I think it’s time someone else should take over.”