Shillong, Mar 9: Chennai City were crowned champions of I-League 2018-19 after beating Minerva Punjab 3-1 in Coimbatore today, while East Bengal, who beat Gokulam Kerala 2-1 in Kozhikode, finished second.
Chennai finished with 43 points from their 20 matches, while East Bengal, who have never won an I-League title, were one point behind.
The new champions came from a goal down to beat the 2017-18 title holders, with Pedro Manzi converting a 56th minute penalty, followed by a brace by man-of-the-match Gourav Bora of Assam in the 69th and 90+3 minutes.
Minerva had taken the lead in only the third minute through Roland Bilala as Chennai City, and their challengers East Bengal as well, looked nervous in the all-important match.
East Bengal also came from a goal down to win, but they needed Chennai to either lose or draw their match to claim the title. The Kolkatans were pegged back by great combination play by Gokulam that saw Marcus Joseph strike a beauty in the 69th minute, but came back after being awarded a penalty (converted by Jaime Santos in the 79th) and then the winner by Laldanmawia Ralte in the 85th, which came with the player on the turf yet still able to pull of a shot that found the back of the net.
(Photo: Facebook/I-League)
