FC Goa manager Zico fielded an unchanged line-up, as he went in with the same team which defeated Delhi Dynamos in the second leg of their semi-final tie. Chennayin, on the other hand, made just one change to the line-up they used against Atletico de Kolkata, with Bruno Pelissari replacing Zico in attack.

The enormity of the occasion got the better of both the teams, and it had a very cagey and physical beginning. Goa were dealt an early blow, when Dudu was stretchered off the field after a clash of heads with Chennaiyin defender Mailson Alves. Zico replaced the striker with Italian midfielder Jonatan Lucca. This forced a changed in tactics, with Jofre moving upfront to partner Rafael Coelho in the attack and Leo Moura playing as the playmaker.

In the 17th minute, Bruno Pelissari found Mendoza at the edge of the box with a header. The Colombian striker was brought down by Pronay Halder, but the loose ball reached Pelissari, who continued his run. The Brazilian did brilliantly to skip by Lucio, but he rushed his shot and it went wide.

Goa pushed up the field a bit more as the game progressed, in order to bring more impetus into their attack, and this in turn began to open up space behind the back-three.

Tempers were running high in the game and tackles were flying in from everywhere, as the referee failed to take control of the game.

In the 32nd minute, Goa received a free kick from a good position in front of the goal, and Moura tried to catch the goalkeeper out with a cleverly-taken low shot, which went under the wall as he jumped high anticipating a powerful shot. However, the ball took a deflection off Mehrajuddin Wadoo and went just wide of the post.

Both the teams went into the halftime break tied at 0-0, and Goa were handed over another blow. Their chief playmaker Moura had to be substituted during the break, after the Brazilian picked up a knock he could not recover from. Moura was replaced by Haokip, and in hindsight, it worked out well for them.

In the 52nd minute, Halder hacked down Mendoza inside the box with a mindless tackle, and the referee pointed to the spot. Bruno Pelissari stepped up to take the shot, and his initial effort was saved by the goalkeeper.But the Brazilian was the first to reach the rebound and turned it in into an empty net.

Couple of minutes later, Chennaiyin wasted a brilliant chance to take back the lead, as Mendoza failed to score from a penalty. Jeje and Mendoza combined beautifully to get behind the Goa defence, and the league's top scorer was brought down by an aggressive challenge from the goalkeeper, who came off his line.

The referee awarded Chennaiyin their second penalty kick, but Kattimani kept it out with a heroic save.

Chennaiyin, however, had other plans though, as Kattimani, who saved Goa with some fantastic saves throughout the game, scored an own goal in the 90th minute. The goalkeeper came off his line to punch a long ball from the back, but under pressure from Mendoza, he only managed to punch it into his own goal.

Goa fans and players were left stunned, but even before they could recover from this shock, Mendoza scored the winner. The forward received a pass from the left wing and got past Arnolin with a fantastic piece of skill. The striker kept his calm and slipped the ball past the stranded goalkeeper to score his 13th goal of the season, and the most important one in the history of Chennaiyin FC. (Read: Chennaiyin captain Elano arrested)