Bengaluru FC and Chennaiyin FC played out a 0-0 draw in Match 83 of Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2020-21 at the Fatorda Stadium on Friday. The Marina Machans were the brighter side going forward and it was the heroics of the Blues goalkeeper that denied them a win.

• Chennaiyin created many chances but failed to find the back of the net.
• Gurpreet Singh Sandhu’s many saves came to the Blues’ rescue.

As early as the 6th minute, Chennaiyin forward Esmael Goncalves forced the first save of the match from Gurpreet and the follow-up shot from Rahim Ali was easily caught by the Indian custodian.

In the 11th minute, the Marina Machans opened up Bengaluru’s defence yet again but Lallianzuala Chhangte managed to head the ball from a cross straight into the hands of the goalkeeper. At the other end of the pitch, Eli Sabia kept his team in the game after making an important block to deny Sunil Chhetri in the 36th minute.

To all intents and purposes, not much separated the two sides in the first half with both playing out the game in the middle of the park. The Marina Machans maintained their goalscoring intent as the second half kicked off. It was a fingertip save from Gurpreet off a freekick by Manuel Lanzarote that denied the Marina Machans in the 47th minute.

Gurpreet was in the right place at the right time twice in the space of two minutes to first deny Chennaiyin midfielder Germanpreet Singh and then their Portuguese forward. In the 59th minute, Germanpreet’s shot on goal forced the Bengaluru shot-stopper into an easy save. Two minutes later, Esmael received a brilliant defence-splitting pass from Lanzarote but the custodian did well to keep the score-line intact.

Francisco Gonzalez then found the back of the net after heading a Cleiton Silva freekick on target but the Spaniard’s effort in the 75th minute was deemed offside by the match officials. A couple of minutes after the drinks break, Chennaiyin kept the pressure up but the Bengaluru goalkeeper was at his best yet again after getting his fingertips on an effort from Chhangte.

Memo Moura came very close to breaking the deadlock in the 84th minute but the Brazilian midfielder’s freekick rattled the goalpost. Both teams were eventually unable to find the back of the net and the encounter ended in a goalless draw.

Hero of the Match: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu

The India international was the busier of the two goalkeepers and ensured his team stayed alive in the contest all through. The tall goalkeeper made six saves and also managed six punches and three clearances to deny the opposition attackers. His fourth clean sheet of the season ensures that Gurpreet now has most-clean sheets in the Hero ISL i.e. 29.

Other Match Awards:

Club Award: Bengaluru FC and Chennaiyin FC

DHL Winning Pass of Match: Manuel Lanzarote (Chennaiyin FC)

Watch the Match Highlights here: