Chennaiyin FC returned to winning ways after a break of seven matches as it outplayed home favourite East Bengal FC 3-0 in an ISL 2024-25 fixture at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on Saturday.
Chennaiyin went into the lead off East Bengal defender Nishu Kumar’s own goal early in the action before Jordan Gil found the second midway through the opening half. Substitute Chima Chukwu added the third late in the added time (90+9) to complete the goalscoring for Chennaiyin.
The visitor looked the more dangerous side on the attacking front, finding the break in the 13th minute. Colombian forward Jordan Gil released Connor Shields with a nice through ball. Initially, the latter seemed to run too deep inside the East Bengal box but managed to backheel the ball before it could cross the goal-line.
East Bengal defender Nishu Kumar, who was chasing the Scottish forward, sent the ball in while miscuing his attempted clearance. Before the Red and Gold could recover from the shock of the first goal, Chennaiyin doubled the lead.
This time it was Jordan Gil who diverted home a cross from Irfan Yadvad to see Chennaiyin reach a comfortable position at half-time.
Oscar Bruzon’s men doubled the efforts to retrieve the situation but their effort drew blanks as the attackers failed to convert three clear opportunities in the first 20 minutes of the second 45.
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In one move, East Bengal just had to get past Chennaiyin goalkeeper Mohammad Nawaz but the three foreigners in East Bengal’s attacking moves – midfielder Saul Crespo (Spain), winger Richard Celis (Venezuela) and striker Dimitrios Diamantakos (Greece) failed to work in tandem, thus wasting the opportunity.
The Chennaiyin defence appeared to be really under severe pressure after the interval as the East Bengal coach Oscar Bruzon reshuffled some positions to see the host find the Chennaiyin box with repeated incursions. But after so many opportunities were wasted frustration crept into the East Bengal ranks, who gave up the fight in the final quarter of the action.
The home side was reduced to 10 men in the 90+4 minute when its defender Lal Chungnunga received his second booking of the match. Chima Chukwu who was introduced in the 78th minute by Chennaiyin head coach Owen Coyle in place of the other goal scorer Jordan Gil, found the target on an assist from Kiyan Nassiri late in the added time (90+9) for Chennaiyin’s third.
The emphatic win helped Chennaiyin net 21 points from 20 matches to keep its playoff hopes alive. East Bengal remained on 18 points from 19 matches after the loss.
Content Source: sportstar.thehindu.com