Two late goals, including one from Tamil Nadu’s local boy Nandhakumar Sekar, broke the hearts of Chennaiyin FC as they defeated East Bengal 3-1 in their first away match at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai on Saturday.
Chennaiyin planned to turn up the heat in East Bengal – literally – on a sultry summer afternoon in Chennai. But East Bengal coach Oscar Bruzon and the Sun both had other ideas.
As the sunlight fell directly onto the home fans’ stands, Chennaiyin’s twelfth man took cover. This also applied to the players, who were under a lot of pressure from the visiting team early on.
And within seven minutes, East Bengal were ahead.
Elsinho lost the ball and suffered an injury, and the visiting team swarmed around him. Mohammed Rashid got the ball and passed to Saul Crespo, who threw a through ball to Edmund Lalrindika in the final third.
As several Chennaiyin players continued to applaud a foul on Elsinho, Edmund left, entered the penalty area and beat Mohammad Nawaz for his third goal of the season. Bruzon’s men had scored the first goal in four of their six matches in ISL so far. That became five out of seven.
In the 20th minute, Farukh Choudhary scored a cross for Irfan Yadwad, whose header rattled the frame of the goal. Three minutes later, Yadwad attempted another shot, this time from outside the box, prompting Prabhsukhan Gill to make another save.
AS IT HAPPENED | CHENNAIYIN VS EAST BENGAL HIGHLIGHTS
Chennaiyin knocked on East Bengal’s door, and as afternoon turned to dusk the home fans stood in the open with chants and cheers. And by the half-hour mark the host team had found a voice, both on and off the pitch.
Laldinliana Renthlei floated in a long diagonal ball for Yadwad, who had run behind East Bengal’s high defence, and the striker chipped the ball over Gill to square the ball.
‘Slim leads and high lines never fit well’ must have been one of the thoughts in Bruzon’s mind as he walked up and down the technical area and raised his hand to signal the flanks to move forward.
PV Vishnu answered the call and overlapped with Edmund to get into the box.
However, a terrible miss in front of an open goal after dribbling past Nawaz only made the Spanish coach uneasy. Thirteen minutes later Vishnu tried again but was denied by Nawaz.
His perseverance was finally rewarded in the last quarter of the match when East Bengal attacked on the counter. Vishnu’s cross from the left was diverted into the net by Bipin Singh seven minutes from time, sending the visiting fans into delirium.
Now was the time for East Bengal to ride the wave of support. And that support, with another quick counter-attack, saw Miguel Damasceno set up Nandha on his left, who made no mistake with his first finish.
The win meant East Bengal leapfrogged their arch-rivals Mohun Bagan Super Giant to finish third in the standings on goal difference, while for Bruzon it was another match against Chennaiyin, scoring three goals and ultimately another victory to cherish.
East Bengal will host Bengaluru FC in their next match on April 16, while Chennaiyin, who have dropped to third place with the defeat, will look to stop the in-form Sporting Club Delhi, who have won back-to-back matches in the last two rounds.
Published on April 11, 2026
