Some of its biggest stars may be down with injuries but Chennaiyin FC has found its saviour in Bruno Pelissari. The Brazilian youngster, coming in as a 72nd minute substitute, scored the match-winner 15 minutes later as the visitor defeated Kerala Blasters FC by a lone goal in the Indian Super League at the Nehru Stadium here on Sunday night.
The victory, Chennaiyin’s sixth and which carried it to 22 points, has assured the table topper a semifinal berth after the 12th round while the Blasters stay on 15 points after tasting their first defeat at home in five games.
Pelissari’s goal, his third in the ISL, came shortly after a Blasters corner. He ran down nicely through the centre from his own half and sent in a beautiful one to the top left corner of the net foxing goalkeeper Sandip Nandy completely.
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With the match attracting 61,323 spectators – a record for the ISL in Kochi and one of the biggest in the whole league – the home side was expected to apply pressure on the Chennai side.
However, the home side suffered a big setback early on when goalkeeper and marquee player David James, who had suffered a groin injury in the last game, aggravated the problem in the 18th minute. He was replaced with Nandy.
But Chennaiyin, which made two changes to Kerala’s six from its last game, was unable to take advantage of it. Jeje Lalpekhlua and Bernard Mendy threatened but shot over.
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The Blasters’ best chance came soon after the break.
The home side’s tall central midfielder Stephen Pearson sent a ball to C.S. Sabeeth who relayed it to Hume. But the Canadian hit it wide much to the dismay of head coach James who was walking up and down restlessly.
Hume also had an early chance to put the host ahead. Right back Sandesh Jhingan, who moved up frequently, sent a nice cross to Hume inside the box but he was slow to react and Chennaiyin FC goalkeeper Gennaro rushed out to ward off the danger.
The Blasters pulled out Avinabo Bag and brought in Pedro Gusmao shortly after the hour-mark and ten minutes later, with no goals coming, Chennaiyin FC pulled out Cristian Hiidalgo and brought in Pelissari. That move did the trick.
The result:
Chennaiyin FC 1 (Bruno Pelissari 87) bt Kerala Blasters FC 0.