Bengaluru FC sealed a 1-0 victory over Chennaiyin FC as the Southern Derby titled in favour of the Blues at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in the 2023-24 Indian Super League on Wednesday.
A second-half strike by Ryan Williams was enough for Gerard Zaragoza and his side to triumph over the visitors in a clash that they dominated from the offset, and held an upper hand to a greater extent than suggested by the scoreline.
From skipper Sunil Chhetri and Javi Hernandez combining for the former to attempt a shot from a unique set-piece to the latter trying his luck from the edge of the box – the first-half comprised a lot of entertaining action for the supporters at the Kanteerava.
It appeared that Scottish striker Connor Shields could swing the game against the momentum when he tested Gurpreet Singh Sandhu from the left hand side of the 18-yard box merely minutes into the second half.
However, decisiveness and certain efficiency was lacking in his endeavour, resulting in his team giving away an excellent opportunity to get an early lead.
The home team got their act together straightaway, slowly pulling the strings to ensure that their efforts from the opening half of the game didn’t go to waste.
Chhetri and youngster Harsh Patre took a shot each from either side of the box soon afterwards, but the Chennaiyin backline got back just in time to avoid trouble.
Unfortunately, they could not do so when Williams was set up with a beautiful through ball by Halicharan Narzary through the centre in the 62nd minute. Williams showed remarkable composure to put the ball past Debjit Majumder and prevent Chennaiyin FC from doing the double over Bengaluru FC this season.