Chennaiyin FC vs East Bengal: Brison Fernandes ends Marina Machan’s 270-minute wait for a goal in ISL 2026-27
Brison Fernandes ended Chennaiyin FC’s 270-minute wait for a goal in the ongoing Indian Super League (ISL) on Saturday when the 25-year-old found the back of the net against East Bengal at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai. Chennaiyin came into this match on the back of just two draws in four matches and no goals in the last three games.
Needing a perfect start, Chennaiyin opened the scoring in just the fourth minute. Latching onto a ball from the middle, Madih Talal cheekily left it for Brison, after recieving a cross from Irfan Yadwad on the right. The 25-year-old Brison, who was left unmarked, made no mistake in slotting the ball home past East Bengal goalkeeper Prabhsukhan Gill.
Notably, before the East Bengal game, Chennaiyin FC had as many as 72 shots on goal with just one conversion. Chennaiyin’s only goal in ISL 2026-27 before the East Bengal match came against FC Goa in their campaign opener in a drawn encounter. It was Brison’s first goal in ISL 2026-27.
Brison, who started his ISL career with FC Goa and moved to Chennaiyin only in 2026. The Indian forward added more misery for the defending champions with his second strike just 14 minute later. penetrating into the box from the left, Brison curled past Gill to double Chennaiyin’s lead.
Brison Fernandes’ breakthrough 2025
Brison started his career with decades-old Goan club Salgaocar at the U-14 level. In 2016, Brison joined FC Goal and played for their reserves team in the Goa Pro League and Reliance Foundation Development League. Five years later, Brison was promoted to the senior team and made his ISL debut came in 2022, coming in as a substitute in a 0-2 loss to Mumbai City FC.
His first ISL goal came in 2022 season, in a 3–0 home win against Jamshedpur FC. Brison’s breakthrough season came in 2025, where he scored twice against Odisha FC in an away win at the Kalinga Stadium to become the first domestic player to score consecutive braces in the ISL.
Brison etched his name into Goan football history books when he scored India’s first-ever goal in AFC Champions League Two competition, in a group stage encounter against Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr FC in 2025. Notably, Portugal legend Cristiano Ronaldo plays for Al Nassr.
However, Ronaldo didn’t travel to India for that game. Instead, that Al Nassr team had the likes of former Liverpool and Senegal striker Sadio Mane and Portuguese João Félix, who had played for Barcelona, Chelsea and Atletico Madrid among top clubs.
Chennaiyin FC vs East bengal starting line-ups
East Bengal: Prabhsukhan Gill (GK), Lalchungnunga, Vishnu PV, Dani Ramirez, Diego Zivulic, Jeakson Singh, Jay Gupta, Bipin Singh, Sandip Mandi, Mohammed Rashid (C), Ake Loba
Chennaiyin FC: Mohammed Nawaz (GK) (C), P C Dinpuia, Nuno Reis, Muhammed Saheef, Ramon Tanque, Nikola Stojanovic, Madih Talal, Ayush Chhetri, Irfan Yadwad, Namgyal Bhutia, Brison Fernandes
