KOCHI: Chennaiyin coach Bozidar Bandovic had reflected ahead of the game against NorthEast United that his side needed to be more effective going forward. Two world class strikes from Lallianzuala Chhangte (41) and skipper Anirudh Thapa (74) at the PJN Stadium in Fatorda left the head coach delighted as his team notched a second win on the trot to take them joint top of the table alongside ATK Mohun Bagan.VP Suhair’s strike proved a mere consolation for Khalid Jamil’s side who are still winless after this 2-1 defeat on Monday and now languish ninth in the table.
However, when the game had started, it was NorthEast United who looked more assertive with their attacking play despite a poor start to the campaign.A lot of it was down to the return of their inspirational midfielder Federico Gallego who was pulling the strings for his team admirably. To their credit, Chennaiyin looked resolute at the back and managed to keep NorthEast at bay.
The complexion of the game changed when Gallego went off injured after a collision with Narayan Das. A jarring coming together left Uruguayan clutching his knees in agony. After he was stretchered off, the 31-year-old looked inconsolable which could be an indication that he might be out of action for a while.
NorthEast withdrew after the loss of Gallego and Chennaiyin started to grow into the game. They finally got their reward with Lallianzuala Chhangte scoring with a stunning strike in the 41st minute. Chhangte who was operating down the right channel caught the opposition defence by surprise with a blinder from outside the box.His left foot strike skimmed the underside of the crossbar and bounced into the net. NorthEast goalkeeper Subhasish Roy could only look on and admire the shot as he had no chance of saving it.
Thankfully, the half-time arrived just in time for NorthEast as they re-grouped and managed to roar back into the game early in the second half. VP Suhair managed to drag NorthEast back into the game thanks to a goalkeeping error from Vishal Kaith.