Chennaiyin FC beat Delhi FC 2-1 for its third consecutive victory in a Group E fixture of the Durand Cup at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium here on Friday.
Chennaiyin FC, thus, finished the group unbeaten, securing nine points from three matches and headed into the quarterfinals high on confidence. On the other hand, Delhi FC finished with two points from three matches, courtesy two draws against Hyderabad FC and Tribhuvan Army FC.
Rafael Crivellaro and Vincy Barretto scored for the winners, while Pape Alassane Gassame scored one back for Delhi FC. Chennaiyin FC head coach Owen Coyle rotated his squad making seven changes from the lineup that started against Tribhuvan Army FC.
Defenders Ankit Mukherjee, Aakash Sangwan, Bikash Yumnam and captain Jordan Murray managed to hold on to their place in the team.
Delhi FC Coach Israil Gurung made five changes to the side with foreign imports Sergio Barboza and Gassame starting the game.
In search of full points from the game to keep its knockout qualification hopes alive, Delhi FC took the attack to the Chennaiyin defence. It managed to trouble the Chennaiyin defence but could not make full use of the chances.
Chennaiyin FC took full advantage of the single chance it got in the first half. Crivellaro received the ball from Sangwan, and the Brazilian foxed three Delhi FC defenders to finish calmly past the goalkeeper and put his team ahead.
In the second half, Chennaiyin doubled its lead in the 51st minute through Barretto. Sachu Siby made a good run down the left and found Barretto inside the box, who finished in the bottom right corner past goalkeeper Nitish Mehra.
Delhi FC halved Chennaiyin's advantage soon after as Gasaame's free-kick curled above Samik Mitra and landed inside the goal.
Chennaiyin FC could have put the match beyond Delhi, but it could not convert the chances.
Gokulam makes it to knockouts after draw against Bengaluru-Blasters
In the second game of the day, Bengaluru FC and Kerala Blasters FC played out a 2-2 draw in Group C at the Kishore Bharati Krirangan (KBK) in Kolkata.
While Emmanuel Justine (14th) scored the opener for KBFC, Edmund Lalrindika (38th) drew level for BFC before Ashish Jha (52nd) gave the latter the lead. However, Mohammed Aimen (84th) equalised to share the spoils.
The result has allowed Gokulam Kerala to ensure its place in the quarters, whereas the race is open between BFC, KBFC and Indian Air Force to make it to the next round of the knockouts.
