Chennaiyin FC earned the distinction of becoming two-time Hero Indian Super League (ISL) champions after beating Bengaluru FC 3 – 2 in the final of Hero ISL 2017-18 at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru last Saturday. While beating a team that had been dominant throughout the season - that too in a final at their den - was impressive enough, it was consistency that ultimately crowned the Marina Machans champions.

Chennai had a rather underwhelming start to the season, however, having finished their previous season second from bottom. It looked as though they would carry that woeful form into the new season as well after they conceded three first-half goals against FC Goa in their curtain raiser at home. And although they pulled a couple of goals back late in the game, it could not prevent them from starting their campaign with a loss.

They quickly overcame that initial hiccup to bounce back with three consecutive wins, the last of which came against the defending champions ATK in a 3 – 2 thriller. But what made them into genuine title contenders has to be their five-game unbeaten run towards the middle. Not to mention that they also finished their campaign with an eight-game unbeaten run, which included the crunch semi-finals and final matches.

Unlike teams like FC Goa and Bengaluru FC, prolific scoring was not really Chennaiyin’s forte. They were only the sixth highest scorers following the league phase, with their 24 goals being the least scored by a team in the top four. Their biggest margin of victory in the league phase was a 3 – 0 win over NorthEast United FC at home. But the team more than made up for it with their strong defensive performances, ending up with the third best defensive record in the competition.

Custodian Karanjit Singh played all 20 matches for his team and notched up the joint highest number of clean sheets (7) with Subrata Paul, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and Vishal Kaith. The Indian goalkeeper had a splendid season, making some eye-catching and important saves on a consistent basis.

But what really separated Chennaiyin from the other successful teams and put them a cut above the rest was the fact that they never relied heavily on any one or two players to get them goals. While Jeje Lalpekhlua was their highest scorer with nine strikes, goals came in regularly from all places. Mailson Alves, a central defender, bagged four goals this season and he was his team’s second-highest scorer. In fact, their defenders found the back of the net as many as eight times over the course of the season. 

But that is telling only half the story. The Marina Machans incredibly had 11 different scorers in Hero ISL 2017-18 – a record for a team in league history – with forwards, midfielders and defenders all getting in on the act. This meant that when the Mizo Sniper hit patches where goals dried up for him, his team stepped up to the plate and never stopped delivering.

They were also on the wrong end of some surprise results, like a 3 – 1 setback against the Highlanders (who finished rock bottom) and failed to beat Delhi Dynamos FC (who finished third from bottom) on both the occasions the teams met. However, for the first time in four seasons, they managed to do the double over ATK, consequently winning their first ever game away at Kolkata.

Chennai’s defence then faced their sternest test yet in the semi-finals when they took on a free-scoring FC Goa side over two legs. They would go on to pass the test with flying colours by not only neutralising the threat of ‘Golden Boot’ winner Ferran Corominas, but also showing some sharp attacking resolve at the other end of the pitch to progress 4 – 1 on aggregate.

The last hurdle in the final saw them face a team that had secured a record 40 points in the league phase while also heading into the fixture on the back of a 10-game unbeaten run. And while Jeje did not find the net this time, Chennaiyin used another one of their strengths to good effect. Throughout the campaign, they had been good from set-plays and Mailson Alves put two headers into the net from two corners to silence Bengaluru’s support.

They ultimately won the game and clinched the title in a five-goal thriller, consequently beating Bengaluru FC twice at their fortress, a feat which was by no means easy. A lot of the credit for their displays must go to their head coach John Gregory, who it must be said got the best out of his squad. They lost the least number of matches (4) this season – one less than Bengaluru – making it difficult to argue against the fact that Chennaiyin FC are deserving champions.