BFC too have had stops and starts in their campaign and scraped through a 10-man Odisha FC in the quarter-finals, with the last touch winner from Roy Krishna following a monumental blunder by the Juggernaut's keeper in the dying seconds.
Both sides shared a similar fate in the group stage as the Islanders collected seven points from four games and topped their group while the Marina Machans picked up as many points and finished second in their group.
Chennaiyin FC beat I-League sides TRAU FC and NEROCA FC 4-1 and 2-0 respectively to finish second in Group C after a poor start and qualify for quarter-finals
Midfielder Anirudh Thapa (15') and Vafa Hakhamaneshi scored in each half to take Chennaiyin FC past the hosts and into the knockout stage of the competition.
Playing in Arthur Ashe Stadium, the 24-year-old played fearlessly throughout the three-hour, 31-minute thriller to clinch the match against Nadal 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.
The Australian passed the stiff test against the Russian 7-6(11), 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, playing his aggressive game to triumph after two hours and 53 minutes.