Football made a comeback to Marina Arena on a chilly evening in Chennai, as Chennaiyin FC took on Mohammedan SC, the freshly promoted team. The Black Panthers surprised the home team by winning 1-0, despite the euphoria that surrounded the Marina Machans. Remsanga scored the game’s sole goal as a result of a misunderstanding between Samik and Dinpuia in the Chennaiyin defense.
Chennaiyin had defeated Odisha FC 3-2 the previous time they played, while Mohammedan SC was forced to settle for a 1-1 draw with FC Goa. Andrey Chernyshov named an unchanged 11-man roster, with the four foreigners being Adjei, Kasimov, Alexis Gomez, and Franca. Conversely, Owen Coyle made a single change, starting Ankit Mukherjee at left-back. This formula proved effective against Odisha FC in the second half.
Read: Chennaiyin’s Owen Coyle – We respect every opponent but we do not fear anybody
From the first whistle, Chennaiyin was on the attack, with Chima and Hnamte displaying exquisite one-touch football. However, Amarjit made just enough of an effort to intercept the ball and stop the Marina Machans from scoring. Five minutes into the match, Farukh went on an excellent run forward, but Adeji blocked his cross. Irfan’s header at the near post from Shields’ subsequent corner gave Chennaiyin their first opportunity of the match, but it went just wide. Irfan had another chance to score from Shields’ cross at the far post a few seconds later, but he missed the target again. Elsinho’s free-kick ten minutes into the match was met by Farukh’s header, but it went wide once more.
Soon after, Shields’ cross found Hnamte at the far post, giving Marina Machans another chance, but Hnamte’s effort was blocked for a corner. Approximately fifteen minutes into the match, Farukh received the ball and made a cheeky through pass to Shields, whose cross to Farukh was blocked by the Mohammedan defense. Chennaiyin had another scoring chance as Shields’ ball ricocheted and landed to Dinliana, whose cross was just ahead of Ryan Edwards.
Mohammedan SC’s first serious chance of the match came just after the first half water break, thanks to confusion caused by Samik and Dinliana. Despite Alexis Gomez’s impressive maneuver to go around the goalkeeper, the woodwork denied his attempt.
Kasimov received the first yellow card of the game for a foul on Connor Shields. After a great pass from Chima to Hnamte, who had space to shoot ahead of him, Chennaiyin had another opportunity to score about 38 minutes into the game, but Adeji, who had always been there, stopped his effort.
Mohammedan scored from the subsequent counterattack a few seconds later, going against the flow of play, to take the lead. Remsanga gave his team the lead by taking full advantage of the misunderstanding that existed between Samik and Dinpuia. The first half finished with four additional minutes added on, with the away team leading 1-0.
Owen Coyle made one change ahead of the second half, replacing Elsinho with Brazilian midfielder Lukas Brambilla. Lukas created the half’s first opportunity after 55 minutes in when he sent a low corner towards Ryan Edwards, but the latter’s header was once again off target. Shortly after, Mohammedan had a chance to double the advantage through Alexis Gomez’s corner, but Gaurav Bora’s unchallenged header went wide. Chennaiyin had another chance to score from a free kick more than an hour into the match when Zodingliana’s clearing header nearly put Lukas’s free-kick into his own net.
Coyle made three additional substitutions, replacing the whole front line with Jordan Gil, Gurkirat Singh, and Kiyan Nassiri. Bikash Singh replaced Chothe as Mohammedan made their first change of the match. In short succession, Chennaiyin received two yellow cards, Kiyan and Dinpuia were booked. Jitendra Singh replaced Hnamte as Owen Coyle made his side’s last change. In the 73rd minute, Bikash made an immediate impression by unleashing a fantastic cross into the six-yard box. However, Franca was unable to make touch with the ball in time to tap it into the goal.
In the 80th minute, Gurkirat had a chance to score from outside the box, but his attempt was just off target. The Mohammedan defense was unbreakable and denied the hosts any opportunities, even though they made many attempts to equalize. Kasimov almost doubled the Black Panthers’ lead just before the ninety-minute mark, but Samik produced an incredible flying save to preserve the score. Shortly after, Padam Chhetri made a good save to keep the ball out of the goal as Wilmar fired a shot from just outside the box in an attempt to tie the score. The second half ended with seven additional minutes added on.
Dinpuia hauled down Manzoki in the box, giving Mohammaden a penalty and a chance to seal the victory early in stoppage time. Manzoki, who was given the penalty, missed the target with his attempt to score. On the opposite end, Chennaiyin had a chance to tie the score right away, but the Mohammedan defense blocked Lukas Brambilla’s shot with a goal-line clearance. Another chance for Chennaiyin to score came late in stoppage time when Ryan’s header off Shields’ cross was deflected for a corner. Even though Chennaiyin had numerous chances in stoppage time, the game ended 1-0 in Mohammedan’s favor.
Owen Coyle will be dissatisfied with his team’s performance, particularly with the strikers, who had many opportunities to score but were unable to put much effort on target. He would also be dissatisfied with his defenders’ miscommunication that resulted in the goal. Chernyshov, however, would be pleased with his players’ efforts as they displayed brilliant fight to get the team’s first victory in the Indian Super League after falling short in the previous encounters.
Follow IFTWC for more updates on Indian Football.
