For the second week running, Chrigor was the two-goal hero for Selangor in the semifinals of the ASEAN Club Championship -- this time to seal their place in the decider as a 2-0 second-leg win completed a 4-1 aggregate victory over Thép Xanh Nam Định on Wednesday.
Just seven days ago, Chrigor's clinical brace at Petaling Jaya Stadium had handed the Red Giants an important 2-1 triumph in the opening encounter -- but there was always plenty of work still to do with a daunting trip to Ninh Bình awaiting them in the return encounter.
Despite their defeat in the first leg, Nam Định undoubtedly still boasted plenty of quality and there were no shortage of believers that they could overturn the deficit in front of their passionate supporters.
But Selangor, and Chrigor, had other ideas.
They were given a helping hand in the 36th minute when a penalty appeal, which initially looked in vain, was relooked at by the VAR and - upon a lengthy review with the referee - resulted in the award of a spot-kick.
Mitchell Dijks was the culprit for Nam Định, having needlessly put his arm around the collar of Mohammad Abualnadi even though Faisal Abdul Halim's corner had not sailed anywhere in the vicinity -- with the brief chokehold enough to send the Selangor defender to the ground clutching his throat.
It paved the way for Chrigor to blast home straight down the middle from 12 yards, handing Selangor a crucial cushion on aggregate just five minutes out from the break.
Nam Định did look like they had equalised seven minutes after the restart when a penalty box scramble resulted in Lâm Ti Phông converting a loose ball from close range -- only for the home supporters' celebrations to be halted by the offside flag.
Despite showing plenty of endeavour, the hosts just lacked an extra bit of a cutting edge in the final third as the Malaysia Super League outfit constantly repelled anything that entered their box with relative comfort.
And, in the 90th minute, it was one such situation that led to a counter down the Selangor right -- where a searching played from behind the halfway line caught the Nam Định completely exposed as Chrigor raced through and left Arnaud Lusamba in his wake before clinically finishing into the bottom corner.
It means Selangor -- in their tournament debut -- are through to the two-legged final on May 20 and 27, where they will now be gunning to win their first major silverware in over a decade -- with their last trophy coming in the form of the 2015 Malaysia Cup.
