CHENNAI: The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium’s AFC Cup debut proved to be a roller-coaster ride. Its temporary tenants Chennai City FC were the underdogs despite home advantage — after all, their opponents Maziya S&RC of Maldives had got here after beating Bengaluru FC over two legs. What were they going to do when an Indian Super League club, full of national team stars and operating on a budget many times bigger, had failed?
They more than held their own. They should have walked away from the match, which finished 2-2, with three points. The AFC Cup has not been a happy hunting ground for Indian clubs for the last few years. Chennaiyin FC bowed out of the group stages last year while Bengaluru failed to even get there this time. Many have pinned the blame on the increased number of foreign players allowed in the ISL and the I-League — teams often find it hard to work up a rhythm when they’re suddenly asked to play with four foreigners instead of the usual five.
To counter this, Chennai City coach Akbar Nawas played the team’s last four I-League games with four foreigners. And for the first hour of the match, it looked like all the preparation he did was going to pay dividends.Only 11 minutes had passed when Chennai City took the lead through Spanish striker Adolfo Miranda. After working the ball into the box, Miranda fired in from a narrow angle. Maziya goalkeeper Hussain Shareef stuck out a leg but deflected the ball into his own net.
The home team not only managed to hold the lead for the next 50 minutes or so, but also prevented their opponents from creating clear-cut chances. Maziya’s best chance of a goal in the first-half came from the most ridiculous of errors from the hosts. Defender Roberto Eslava put in a harmless-looking backpass towards the keeper but his Nauzet Santana wasn’t home. Fortunately for Chennai City, the ball bounced off the upright as a grateful Eslava rushed in to pick it up.
The game turned on its head during a three-minute period in the second half. In the 64th minute, Mohammed Irufaan headed in Hamza Muhammed’s freekick. Just three minutes later, Ibrahim Mahudhee put Maziya in the lead. Chennai City were chasing the game. Just when hope seemed gone, Chennai City found their saviour in Miranda. The Maziya goalkeeper spilled Charles Anandraj’s shot in injury time and the Spaniard was there to tap the ball in. Barely seconds later, Chennai City looked like they were getting three points. Vijay Nagappan found himself with only the keeper to beat after Katsumi Yusa’s lay-off. He had an unmarked Miranda to his right. However, he chose to take a shot and that was too high. Katsumi’s reaction — collapsed to the ground — with his head in his hands, said it all.