As John Gregory’s Chennaiyin FC celebrated their Indian Super League (ISL) title win at the Sree Kanteerava stadium in Bengaluru, the spotlight was on Mailson Alves. The Brazilian defender had after all turned the tie on its head with two goals before the stroke of half-time and had simultaneously been a pillar at the back as Chennaiyin lifted their second ISL trophy in three years.

Alves had twice leapt the highest from corners to deal two striking blows to Albert Roca’s Bengaluru FC, a side which had come into the finals with the ‘favourites’ tag. Both the corners had been delivered by one Gregory Nelson.

The Dutchman had largely been out of the spotlight coming into the business end of the four-month long competition. A winger who made his debut under Louis Van Gaal at AZ Alkmaar, Nelson’s maiden campaign in India had been largely solid, if not unheralded, going into the play-offs.

His headline moment had been his 83rd minute winner against FC Pune City in January, a crucial win in hindsight for John Gregory’s side. But stats do not always tell the whole story, especially when it comes to a team like Chennaiyin who are a whole lot more than the sum of their parts.
The hallmark of their campaign has been their tenacity and resilience. The Englighman has cultivated a culture where work-rate takes priority and that has been evident in their displays throughout the campaign, most notably in the finals. With each and every player in the side fighting hard and helping one another across the pitch, Chennaiyin’s work ethos has been hard to beat.

To this end, Nelson has fit in perfectly in John Gregory’s plans. Never slouching in work-rate and not shirking from making tackles, the Dutch winger has quietly gone about his business with minimum fuss. His willingness to put the long yards and tackles in has seen him pick up its fair share of bookings along the way, earning him a one-match automatic suspension at one point in the league.

That’s not to say that the bearer of the No7 jersey has been all brawn and no intelligence, for he has been a tricky customer to deal with for many defenders with his dribbling skills. He changed the game in Chennaiyin's opening match loss, coming on as a substitute in the second half with FC Goa leading 3-0. He was always a threat on the wings as Chennaiyin came within sniffing distance of drawing level.
He remained a trusted lieutenant to John Gregory on the pitch though his performances didn’t manifest themselves into more goals or assists. Apart from his one-match suspension, the winger played a part in all games bar one for the title-winners.

Cometh the hour though, and cometh the man. In the three crunch matches including the play-offs and the finals, Nelson was one of the first names on the team-sheet for Chennaiyin. And it is here that he delivered his most telling contributions, saving the best for the last.
With Chennaiyin trailing 0-1 to FC Goa in the first-leg of the play-offs, Nelson eased past three defenders before finding Anirudh Thapa to slot in the equalizer. In the second-leg, the Dutchman whipped in a sumptuous cross with his left-foot to find Jeje Lalpekhua unmarked in the boss. The forward made no mistake from the header to give John Gregory’s side the lead in the tie.

Minutes later, Nelson delivered another delicious cross from a free-kick, this time with his right-foot, to find Dhanpal Ganesh unmarked at the far post. The midfielder made no mistake with his head either and in the end, these two goals proved to be a bridge too far to cross for the Goa side.

The 30-year-old winger repeated his feat in the all-important final, adding two more assists to his name with those pin-point corners. From no assists in the league stages, Nelson finished with five by the time Henrique Sereno was lifting the coveted trophy.

To deliver at the hour of need in such fashion shows that Nelson is a man for the big occasions. His five assists in the last three matches were probably just reward for his thankless performances in the league stages. The Dutchman had earlier said that he rejected offers from Europe to sign with Chennaiyin. John Gregory and the Chennaiyin fans will be mighty glad that he did so