Taking advantage of home conditions, Real Kashmir on Thursday defeated defending champions Chennai City 2–1 to win their first league season this season. Danish Farooq scored in the 22nd minute and Ivory Coast's Bazi Armand scored in the 27th minute for the winning team. At the same time, Syed Suhail Pasha scored the only goal for the Chennai team in the 48th minute. Real Kashmir had earlier drawn draws from East Bengal and Tidim Road Athletic Union (TRAU).
Real Kashmir had their first home match in the I-League on Thursday. In front was the last time champion team Chennai City FC. This was the first time such a large number of people had gathered in Kashmir after the removal of Section 370 in August.
The local administration was fully prepared to ensure that there were no political demonstrations during the match. Tickets in the ground were limited to 2000 and their identity cards were also being investigated.
Despite this, in Chillai Kalan, 6000 spectators were present in the ground despite the freezing cold. Apart from this, a large number of people were also present outside. Some enthusiastic kids enjoyed the match by sitting on a flyover passing close to the ground. A 62-year-old veteran lost his ticket to enter the grounds but was let in by the policeman. The elder said, "But many people still remain outside. We just want to watch football. We have been watching football ever since it was played under torchlight."
In half time BJP national secretary Ram Madhav arrived in the VIP box. For the first time after 5 August this year, a leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party reached the Valley.
Fans of the Srinagar team at the stadium wept with joy when Real Kashmir beat Chennai 2–1.
