The Indian Super League is moving towards its final stage. After winning the league stage trophy of the tournament to Mumbai City FC, now the eyes are on the ISL title, for which knockout matches are being played. On Friday, March 3, a knockout match was also played between Bengaluru FC and Kerala Blasters, which ended in chaos. Such an uproar, which has not been seen in the history of ISL till date. Not only ISL, but this has been seen occasionally in football leagues or other tournaments held around the world. The reason for this ruckus was Bengaluru veteran captain Sunil Chhetri and his decisive goal.
This match played between Bengaluru and Kerala at BFC’s home ground Kanteerava Stadium was a tough fight. Both the teams got few chances but no one could score for the whole 90 minutes. During this, Bengaluru fired 11 shots, out of which 3 were on target but the goal was not scored. Whereas Kerala scored 10 shots and 1 was on target. He also did not get success and the score remained 0-0.
Chhetri’s goal surprised, created a ruckus
In such a situation, the match went into extra time and it was here that the biggest and shocking ruckus happened. In the sixth minute of the first half of extra time, Sunil Chhetri won a free-kick on a foul just a few meters outside Kerala’s box. The Kerala defenders were positioning themselves near their goal and the goalkeeper was giving orders to his defenders, while several Bengaluru players were surrounding Sunil Chhetri, who was preparing for a free-kick.
Before the Kerala players could be fully alert, Chhetri scored the ball by playing a shot over the defensive wall. The Kerala goalkeeper was not even near the ball.
The match referee called it a goal and the Bangalore players broke into celebrations. But the ruckus started from here. All the players of Kerala reached the referee and started protesting against this goal. He objected to the fact that Chhetri scored the goal even before the referee whistled, while his players were not ready. The referee, however, rejected this argument. At the same time, the coach of Kerala also kept questioning the decision while arguing with the assistant referee.
“I got the free-kick and I saw the opening”@bengalurufc‘s match-winner @chetrisunil11 on his side’s victory in #Bengaluru#BFCKBFC #HeroISL #HeroISLPlayoffs #LetsFootball #BengaluruFC #KeralaBlasters pic.twitter.com/HkKkLCBMqE
— Indian Super League (@IndSuperLeague) March 3, 2023
Kerala players returned after leaving the field
When this protest did not work, the angry Kerala coach called all his players out of the field. As shocking as that goal was, this decision of the coach surprised everyone. Thousands of BFC fans started jumping in excitement, while Kerala fans were in panic. The ruckus went on for about 20 minutes, but even then the Kerala players did not return. In such a situation, other officials including the match commissioner of ISL came to the ground and after discussing with the referee, the match was ended there and Bengaluru was declared the winner. In this way BFC made it to the semi-finals.