KOCHI: Prior to the start of the game, ATK Mohun Bagan coach Antonio Habas had said that he considered Chennaiyin FC to be one of the title favourites. At the end of an evenly contested goalless draw at the GMC Stadium in Bambolim, it was easy to see why the two-time ISL winning coach had made that claim.
Chennaiyin put up a dominant display against Bagan and if it wasn't for some stunning saves from their goalkeeper Arindam Bhattacharya, the southern side could have walked away with all three points.
Crucially, the result takes Bagan to the top of the table with 17 points, one ahead of Mumbai City FC. As for Chennaiyin, they missed an opportunity to break into the top four and remain in seventh with ten points.
To put the game into context, Csaba Laszlo's team had seven shots on target as opposed to Bagan's one but the Kolkata side showed why they have the meanest defence, securing a sixth clean sheet of the campaign.
Coming into the game, all eyes were on Chennaiyin and how they were going to perform against Habas' side who have been consistent, occupying the top spot in the league.
Chennaiyin on the other hand had a varying form guide, and in the last game against East Bengal, they threw away glorious opportunities while conceding soft goals to settle for a draw.
On Tuesday, they hardly put a foot wrong and did a commendable job in containing the dangerous duo of Roy Krishna and David Williams.
Chennaiyin had the opportunity to score inside the first five minutes when their skipper Rafael Crivellaro was teed up inside the box by forward Jakub Sykvestr. He took the shot on his weaker right foot but it was kept out by Arindam.
The chances kept coming for Chennaiyin, and even Lallianzuala Chhangte came close but his shot was inches wide.
At the other end, Krishna was a constant threat for Eli Sabia and Enes Sipovic but the defensive duo managed to nullify the threat of one of the league's goal machines.
In the second half, it was a similar story as Chennaiyin were the side who were creating more chances. They suffered a setback when Crivellaro went off injured but their right-back Reagan Singh produced the best chance of the game when he drew a stunning save from Arindam in the 80th minute of the game.
Reagan found himself in space inside the box and the fullback unleashed a piledriver which looked set to be going into the far corner until Arindam tipped it away at the last moment.
Krishna had an opportunity at the other end when he almost got on the end of a cross from Subhasish Bose but that chance went begging. In the end, both teams settled for a point.