Forced to shift base to anotherĀ venue due to floods in their home city, Chhenaiyin FC were
on SundayĀ crowned the Indian Super League champions after theyĀ beat FC Goa 3-2 in a drama-filled summit clash in which threeĀ goals were scored in the last four minutes .
In a befitting grand finale of the ISL second seasonĀ which saw 186 goals scored in 60 matches as compared to 121Ā last year, the Chennaiyin vs Goa clash at the Jawaharlal Nehru
Stadium here saw as many as five goals, all of them coming inĀ the second half in the edge-of-the-seat match.
Bruno Pelissari put Chennaiyin ahead in the 54th minuteĀ but Goa equalised within four minutes with Thongkhosiem HaokipĀ finding the target. Joffre Gonzalez then put Goa ahead for theĀ first time in the 87th minute in what looked like to be theĀ winning goal.
But, under dramatic circumstances, Goa goalkeeperĀ Laxmikant Kattimani conceded an own goal in the 90th minute toĀ level the score before Chennaiyin striker Stiven Mendoza found
the target in the first minute of the injury time to stun theĀ home supporters of Goa.
The thrilling final, attended by the likes of Indian TestĀ cricket team captain and Goa co-owner Virat Kohli and hisĀ actress girlfriend Anushka Sharma besides Chennaiyin ownerĀ Abhishek Bachchan and ISL Chairperson Nita Ambani, brought aĀ climactic end to the season of the lucrative league.
For Chennaiyin, coached by Italian World Cup winner MarcoĀ Materazzi, the triumph was all the more remarkable as they hadĀ to shift to Pune for their semifinals first leg after their
home venue was devastated by the floods.
They were also struggling in the early part of the leagueĀ phase and needed four wins on the trot in their last fourĀ matches to qualify for the semifinals.
On the other hand, it was heartbreak for Goa who lookedĀ the most attacking side in the season under Brazilian legendĀ Zico who is not expected to return for the next season.
The winners got richer by Rs 8 crore while the runners-team got Rs 4 crore. The two semi-final losers got Rs 1.5Ā crore each.