AHMEDABAD: Chennaiyin FC are faintly showing the characteristics which won them the ISL title last season. John Gregory’s men earned a third clean sheet on the trot, playing out a goalless draw against Minerva Punjab in their Group E game of the AFC Cup at the Arena stadium, Ahmedabad on Wednesday.
The two are joint-second in the group behind Abahani Dhaka who beat Manang Marshyangdi to take top spot. They’ll need to do more to qualify, but after a horrid domestic season, both sides are giving indications that they are arresting the slide.
The former ISL champs came into the game on the back of two consecutive wins and the players showed why. They looked confident playing out from the back starting with goalkeeper Karanjit Singh. Skipper Mailson and his centre-back partner Eli Sabia looked assured on the ball. Thoi Singh kept bombing up and down the flank. Raphael Augusto was bossing the midfield and forwards Jeje Lalpekhlua and CK Vineeth were linking up well.
These were enough reasons to believe that they had enough to deal with the challenge of Minerva Punjab FC. As for Minerva, they were relying on their defence to nullify the Chennai attack. This was the pattern in the first quarter of the game. Thoi Singh kept whipping in crosses from the right with Jeje being the target. One of his crosses nearly crept into the far post and Arshdeep Singh had to be alert to tip it over. The Mizo sniper looked a little rusty but was still a handful for the Minerva centre-backs Kareem Omolaja and Robert Alfred Primus.
Eli Sabia nearly broke the deadlock with a header from a Halicharan Narzary corner and Chennaiyin looked the likelier of the two to score. The former I-League champions were clearly far tougher opposition than Colombo FC. They looked to attack on the break and the moment Minerva started to put some pressure, Chennaiyin looked shaky, Indecisiveness and panic crept into their game and Minerva started to open them up.
Kalif Alhassan and Samuel Lalmuanpuia tested Karanjit Singh with shots from distance. On both occasions, Singh made diving saves. Here, Chennaiyin showed they can soak up the pressure and dig themselves out of danger.
These were hallmarks of the team last season which won them the title. The teams walked back into the dressing room at half-time after playing out a stalemate. Chennaiyin began to impose themselves on Minerva in the second half. They stretched Minerva and they focused more on attacking.
Thoi Singh came close to scoring from a close range header and Vineeth and Raphael had shots on target. They played with a lot more confidence and Minerva’s back-line was kept busy.
Their custodian Arshdeep saw a lot of shots coming his way but none of them were really threatening. But on the bright side, Gregory would be pleased about how his team played. The same can be said about Minerva who showed resilience to match up to Chennaiyin.